England national team coach Gareth Southgate silences rumors of him quitting to succeed Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford as the Red Devils searches for an experience manager with fingers crossed at the remarkable turn of events under caretaker, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Southgate, 48, managed the Three Lions to their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years and their first major tournament semi-final since Euro '96, finishing fourth at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia after being knocked out by Croatia.
The former Middlesbrough coach has since been shortlisted among favorites to take over at Old Trafford permanently ahead of next season, when interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is due to return to Norwegian club Molde.
"I'm the England manager and it's a privileged position to be in," Southgate told Sky Sports News.
"We've had the best year for 28 years and we've got a [Nations League] semi-final this summer and a European Championship [in 2020] that's predominantly at Wembley, providing we take care of business to qualify.
"So, it's a hugely exciting time with the team. I don't think we've progressed as far as we can yet. I think there's room for us to grow.
"I think there is a lot of importance in life about enjoying what you are doing.
"I am still a young coach, I've managed less than 200 matches, so, for me, it's an honour to be in the role I'm in and I thoroughly enjoy it."Southgate also insisted that he did not want to rest on his laurels after the many tributes paid to himself and the England squad following their World Cup performances in Russia.
"When you're having tributes, you're thinking, 'Well, the job is not done for us yet, there's a lot for us to go for and a lot of improvement for us to make'."England will take on the Netherlands in their Nations League semi-final in June after impressively topping a difficult group containing Spain and Croatia. Portugal and Switzerland will contest the other semi-final.
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