Arsene Wenger will not be England’s next manager

The shortlist the FA drew up for the open position of England manager is...less than inspiring, if you’re an England fan. It contains Harry Redknapp, which let’s just say speaks to a certain lack of vision on the part of the FA. But! That list also contains one Arsene Wenger, who you may remember currently has a job.

Today, Wenger seemingly said NON to the FA. When asked about the England job, he said:

"Could I manage England, why not? I would never rule that out, but I am happy and focused in club football,” said Wenger. "I have one more year to go with Arsenal and I have been with them for a long time. I have always respected all my contacts [throughout my career] and will continue to do that.”

It seems that England want to have a manager in place by the end of this calendar year; they’ll probably have an interim manager for the first round of World Cup qualifiers in September, but they’ll want to lock someone down shortly thereafter. That would effectively mean that Wenger is not their candidate - of course, it could be that they have a placeholder until Wenger is ready to go and agrees to take the job, but as of now, at least, Arsene isn’t going anywhere near the England job.