The thought of losing out to Manchester United moved the FA to rapidly appoint Thomas Tuchel as the next England manager.

That is the theory of Newcastle United icon Alan Shearer after the German was announced as Gareth Southgate’s successor.

Tuchel has agreed a deal in principle to take over as England managerAFP

Tuchel had been out of work after he departed Bayern Munich at the end of last season where the Bundesliga giants finished third in the league, the club’s lowest finish in 14 years.

However, it appeared the German would not be a free agent for much longer as pressure mounted on Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.

The Red Devils boss received a contract extension in the summer but has overseen the club’s worst-ever start to a Premier League season with eight points from seven games.

United’s leadership group met at minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS headquarters in London last week where Ten Hag’s future was on the agenda.

Ten Hag has since received a stay of execution, but the axe hovers perilously above and a poor run of results after the international break will heap even more pressure on the Dutchman.

Had the Red Devils decided Ten Hag was no longer the man to take them forward, Tuchel was heavily linked as being the man to replace him.

It is why Shearer believes the FA were forced to take quick action to avoid losing Tuchel to United.

“They [the FA] have looked at whoever and come up with Thomas Tuchel and thought there is a real live chance he could get the Man United job pretty soon,’ Shearer told The Rest Is Football podcast.

“There, opportunity lies now. If they didn’t act quick, now, they weren’t going to get one of the outstanding candidates for the England job. 

“There is every chance that vacancy could become available soon.”

Shearer believes the FA were kicked into gear amid the threat of losing out on Tuchel to Manchester UnitedGetty

Co-host Gary Lineker concurred with Shearer’s assessment, who felt the timing of Tuchel’s pending announcement seemed ‘slightly odd’.

“We know they [Man United] went for Tuchel in the summer and it didn’t happen so maybe they were thinking again and the FA were thinking, ‘Crikey, we don’t want to miss out to Man United’ and maybe it pushed them,” Lineker said.

“It does seem slightly odd the timing, because reports are he is not going to do the job until the start of the year. Lee Carsley is going to get three camps, I suspect he knew because his quotes were slightly informative in a way. 

“Particularly after the second game they won, he stipulated that England need a manager who has won trophies.”

The German is expected to receive an annual salary between £6million and £7m, putting him among the highest-paid managers in Three Lions history.

Tuchel will begin the role in January on an initial 18-month deal, which will take him through to the end of the 2026 World Cup.

The 51-year-old will become only the third foreign appointment in England’s history – after Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello.