Jurgen Klinsmann discusses England rumor, managing USMNT after 2018 World Cup

There were two massive stories that drove the majority of USMNT narrative this summer. First was the team’s fourth place finish at the Copa America. After that was dissected to death, up popped an interesting rumor surrounding Jurgen Klinsmann possibly being approached for the England national team job.

For a few weeks in July, it was a media tug-of-war between American journalists and the English tabloids. Outlets like The Daily Mirror and even Sky Sports in England reported various different things about Klinsmann being interested and even “in discussions” for the job that was left vacant after Roy Hodgson resigned after the team’s disappointing EURO 2016 performance. While the respected and informed writers over here claimed that Klinsmann had never been approached.

Klinsmann finally cleared up that saga today by revealing to ESPNFC that he was never contacted by the England FA about the job.

The reason the rumor kept gaining momentum was the lack of a denial by either Jurgen or the English FA, so the stories kept piling up. The U.S. boss simply says that he failed to do that because he can’t address every rumor and decided to remove himself from the situation.

"If I deny this, now the next rumor comes, and then I deny the next rumor and the next one," Klinsmann told ESPNFC. "I just said to [US men's national team press officer Michael Kammarman], 'I'm out of this. I'm not commenting on anything here because it doesn't really matter anyway.'"

Klinsmann stated that he’s never wavered on his commitment to the USMNT and that he plans to see out his contract through the 2018 World Cup. But what about the future? Is there a scenario in which he could continue on as manager after his contract is up? While he claims there have been no discussions with Sunil Gulati or the USSF brass about it, he didn’t exactly shut the door on the possibility.

"My message since I took over this role, since five years ago, to all of them -- if it's clubs or countries -- is, 'I'm very, very privileged to have this role, and I feel very honored, and I will respect my contract which goes until Russia [at the 2018 World Cup] and then we will see.'

The USSF handed Klinsmann a four-year contract extension in December of 2013 that runs through 2018. That deal also gave him the title of Technical Director. Once the next World Cup is finished, it will be up to the federation whether or not they’re ready to replace not just their manager, but their Technical Director too.

On a scale of 1 to LOL how shocked are you the English tabloids were wrong about the England rumors? Do you see Klinsmann managing the USMNT past 2018?