Gareth Southgate lands mega FOUR-YEAR contract to become permanent England manager

The former under-21 boss has successfully persuaded The FA to hand him an £8million deal after an impressive stint as interim manager since Sam Allardyce’s dismissal

Gareth Southgate is ready to seal an £8million, four-year deal to become England manager.

And his appointment is set to be confirmed once it has been ratified by the FA board on Wednesday.

Southgate will earn around £2m a year — less than the £3m his predecessor Sam Allardyce was paid.

But there will be substantial bonuses for tournament qualification and already England are well on their way to reaching the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Southgate did an impressive job in steadying the ship in the wake of Allardyce’s tumultuous departure, when a newspaper sting led to his downfall.

He recorded two wins and a draw in World Cup qualifying games against Malta, Slovenia and Scotland.

And England gave a good showing in a friendly against Spain in their last outing until two late goals saw the visitors come back to earn a 2-2 draw.

The last international break was mired in controversy off the pitch over Wayne Rooney’s booze session at team hotel and reports that Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson travelled from Hertfordshire to Bournemouth on their night off to visit a strip club.

Southgate will have to deal with those situations in the coming weeks, but he will do so now as full-time England manager and not from a caretaker position.

Once his appointment has been confirmed he will then set about assembling his backroom staff with Chelsea’s assistant Steve Holland, with whom he worked in his time as England Under-21s manager and during the last four games with the seniors, his top target.