Eni Aluko believes 'Pompey lass' Jill Ellis should replace Phil Neville as England Women coach

Neville's deal was set to take in the Women's European Championship, but UEFA's confirmation of the tournament being delay until 2022 due to the coronavirus crisis means he will no longer be in the hot seat for it.

Emma Hayes and Casey Stoney have also been linked with taking the reins.

But Aluko believes the overwhelming favourite is Ellis – the self-proclaimed ‘Pompey lass’, who helped the US to the 2015 and 2019 World Cups before resigning last October.

‘I think Jill Ellis is definitely the candidate that is potentially going to move this on and bring silverware to the England team,’ the former England forward said on the Football Show on Sky Sports.

‘The England Women's team now are at that point where they're getting to semi-finals and now need to be getting to a final and winning it – winning World Cups, winning European Championships.

‘The only person I think that is in the best position to do that, having won back-to-back World Cups, having won the Olympics with the US national team, is Jill Ellis.

‘I think she has that pedigree, she has that experience, she's worked with some of the best footballers, elite athletes, in the world.’

Aluko thinks the Football Association should consider offering Ellis comparable wages to England men's manager Gareth Southgate in order to entice the highly-rated coach.

‘I think the only problem would be with Jill Ellis is the contract she's probably going to command is going to be very, very high and it's whether the FA are willing to invest that amount of money,’ Aluko added.

‘I'm talking about commensurate to what Gareth Southgate's paid; they're coming from that equal-pay expectation. So I think the contractual issue will be a big one.’

Ellis lived in Cowplain 10 years before moving to America as a teenager in 1981.

The former Padnell Junior School pupil credited her time spent on the south coast as key to her footballing education.