FA chief Bullingham tells USA England won't let them take Wiegman 'at any cost'

The FA has insisted that they will not permit a desperate American women’s set-up to poach Sarina Wiegman to rebuild their team after exiting the World Cup early.

US coach Vlatko Andonovski jumped before he was pushed on Thursday – quitting his job after the world champions were eliminated by Sweden in the last 16, following a poor tournament.

Wiegman, who will lead England into the World Cup final on Sunday after glory in the European Championships is the perfect candidate for a governing body which can flash the cash.

But FA chief Mark Bullingham declared that Wiegman is happy in her work for the FA, on a salary of around £400,000, and that the Americans would be rebuffed if they came calling.

Asked if he would reject an approach out if hand, he said: ‘Yes, 100 per cent.’ No price would be enough to lose her, he insisted. ‘It’s not about the money,’ he said. We are very, very happy with her and we feel she is happy. I think that is the answer.’

The FA are already planning to erect a statue to Wiegman and members of her team - an idea raised by Mail Sport’s Chris Sutton in our new ‘It’s all Kicking Off’ podcast on Monday.

An idea has been in the pipeline for some time, to erect a statue to Wiegman’s European championship winning team at Wembley, with designs under consideration which would include a number of the players or all of them.

Bullingham said: ‘It’s something we are looking at post Euros. We’ve made progress on that and it would be right to have something to commemorate that success outside Wembley. It’s more the whole team [than Sarina].

There are many stages you’ve got to get through - we’ve managed to get through the first stage. You have to go through various permissions - we’ve gone through that. The next stage is working on the design.’

Meanwhile, another candidate being touted for the US role is Brit Laura Harvey, who has coached the US at U20, U23 and senior level and who currently manages OL Reign in the American National Women’s Soccer League.

Tony Gustavsson, the charismatic Swede who took Australia to the World Cup semi-final and was assistant to Jill Ellis when the US won the World Cup four years ago, is another contender. But Wiegman would be a far superior option.

The new role will bring pressure, with the 2024 Olympics just a year away. There is already expectation that the new coach will turn things around, though stars like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan are stepping down.