England women: Who could replace Phil Neville as Lionesses coach?

One of the standout WSL club coaches of the modern era, in terms of silverware won, is former Manchester City boss Nick Cushing.

The 35-year-old lifted six major trophies in six years with City before stepping down from his role in February, and during that time he worked with enough of the current England squad to fill an entire starting XI and most of the bench.

He named nine English players in his entirely British starting XI on the day City clinched their first league title in 2016 and has a strong relationship with senior Lionesses, including captain Steph Houghton, midfielder Jill Scott and striker Ellen White.

Yet, having only recently moved to New York with his young family to take the role of assistant coach at New York City men’s team in the MLS, the timing is not ideal.

And the Football Association will not have forgotten that the last time it was recruiting for a new Lionesses boss after Mark Sampson’s sacking in 2017, Cushing withdrew himself from the process and instead signed a new contract with Man City.

It is also understood that, ideally, the FA would like to recruit a woman this time around.