Scolari on brink of joining England

Luiz Felipe Scolari is on the brink of being announced as the new England manager after it emerged last night that the Brazilian is in talks with the Football Association about the best way to handle his defection from the Portuguese Football Federation.

Scolari, 57, is under contract to Portugal until after the World Cup finals, but has publicly announced that he will not accept another job until after that competition. The FA is trying to find a way out of that agreement which is acceptable to all parties.

Negotiations are at such an advanced stage that the FA hopes to find a way that is acceptable to Scolari and does not undermine his authority as the Portugal coach and allows for a smooth transition after the World Cup finals in July.

The Brazilian has emerged as the front runner to be Sven Goran Eriksson's successor in the last week after the FA's five-man committee could not agree on the appointment of Middlesbrough's manager, Steve McClaren. But the difficulty has been Scolari's reluctance to break the promise he made to the Portuguese not to decide his future before the World Cup.

Publicly, Scolari and the Portuguese Football Federation president, Gilberto Madail, have claimed that there is no change in the position of the Brazilian, who won the World Cup in 2002. But behind the scenes all three parties have been trying to find an agreement which will allow Scolari to take the England job in the next two weeks with the minimum of fuss.

The FA chief executive, Brian Barwick, has promised to name Eriksson's successor before the start of the tournament and has indicated to Scolari that, despite the Brazilian coach's misgivings, the FA is unwilling to break that pledge.

The FA has set a budget of around £2.5m a year for the new manager's salary but they could well be prepared to go higher to accommodate the inconvenience to Scolari, who could face criticism in Portugal for his decision.

Should the FA be able to come to an agreement it will mark a remarkable turnaround from February, when it seemed that an Englishman, or at the very least a British manager, was destined to be appointed. The Arsenal vice-chairman, David Dein, has championed Scolari's cause and convinced members of the committee opposed to another foreign coach that he is England's best option.

McClaren says that he has not been affected by the England management saga as he prepares for the biggest match of his career so far. McClaren will lead Middlesbrough into the Uefa Cup semi-final second leg against Steaua Bucharest at the Riverside tonight, having occupied most of the back pages for several weeks. But, he said, England have not been on his agenda.

"This speculation, the hype about England and about Middlesbrough, I've lived with this for five years," he said. "It's heightened now, obviously, because of the vacancy, but there's no added pressure, there are no distractions. It doesn't affect me at all."

The Teessiders trail 1-0 after the first leg at the Lia Manoliu Stadium. Steaua Bucharest, who were European champions 20 years ago, will be without the suspended duo Banel Nicolita and Sorin Paraschiv, but they could recall the striker Victorias Iakob after his return from long-term injury.

McClaren will give Brad Jones the task of deputising for the Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who fractured his cheekbone in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to West Ham United on Sunday.

Mark Viduka, who has missed two games with a thigh problem, is back in training. Although McClaren said that Viduka may not start, he is confident that the Australian striker will be able to play some role.

"We have worked so hard, not just this season, but every season we have been here to get to this situation," the manager said. "It was disappointing to miss one opportunity on Sunday, but to make a European final, to actually get this far, is a fantastic achievement. But we want to make sure we get into that final."