England boss Sarina Wiegman has confirmed she is yet to sign a new contract to extend her stay as Lionesses manager.
The Daily Mail reported on Sunday the Dutch manager has extended her current deal, which runs until 2025, by a further two years. However, the 52-year-old has since clarified a new deal hasn’t been signed, but conversations have been ‘positive’ and that she feels ‘valued’ by the FA.
“I already have a contract until 2025,” she told reporters ahead of the friendly against the Czech Republic. “We’ve had good conversations and I feel very valued. We’re in a very good place but you know for what can go well, it can quickly (change).
“We have a couple more tournaments to go until then so it’s very comfortable at the moment and we’re all happy. I’m happy, the team is happy, the FA is happy and I hope we’ll keep it that way.
“I haven’t signed a new contract, I’m very happy with the contract I have. Yes, we have had conversations, I feel very valued and we’re all happy.”
Wiegman took charge of England in September last year and guided the Lionesses to glory in the European Championships over the summer. Her side are unbeaten in 23 games so far and they’ll look to continue their impressive run when they face the Czech Republic on Tuesday night.
The FA’s chief executive Mark Bullingham has previously expressed their desire to tie Wiegman down to a longer deal. He said in August : “She only signed in September but we would love her to be with us for a long time.
“I think she’s a really special person and a really special talent. I think you can see the way she’s built a brilliant culture with the team.”
England will be among the favourites for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand but Wiegman admits there is still work to be done.
She added: “Well we have 10 months to go (until the World Cup). I think we’re in a good place and we’re improving. We have to improve to do really good at the World Cup, but I do think we’re improving our game all the time.
“We have built confidence too, that’s what we did at the Euros. It helps, too, when you beat the USA, we saw some good things in the game and some things we really need to improve, which is very exciting too.”
