England keen to extend Southgate’s contract

England manager Gareth Southgate's employers want him to extend his contract beyond the end of the 2020 European Championship.

Southgate's popularity with the fans rocketed last month when England reached the semifinals of the World Cup, where the team was beaten by Croatia.

He was handed a four-year deal by his Football Association employers in November 2016, after taking over from Sam Allardyce.

"Gareth has been excellent, we'd like him to stay beyond 2020," FA chief executive Martin Glenn said on Wednesday. "I think we'd both like that, but ... he's on holiday now, so we'll talk when he comes back."

Southgate, 47, was previously manager of Middlesbrough and the England Under-21 side.

Southgate has been widely praised for the job he has done since initially taking over in November, 2016.

But Glenn said the spending power of the Premier League means that the Football Association may not be able to compete, should one of the big names come calling.

"The question is what is the competitive benchmark [for salary], because we could never compete with a Premier League club in terms of pay," Glenn said.

"I want to pay my staff enough so they're not a flight risk but we are a governing body, not Manchester United," he said.

England are next in action against Spain in the new UEFA Nations League on September 8.

They also meet Croatia in their group, the side which eliminated them in the last four in Russia.