David James has urged the Football Association to look abroad for the next England boss.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce is the frontrunner for the job having been given permission to hold talks over succeeding Roy Hodgson, who quit following the disastrous showing at Euro 2016.

But James believes an experienced foreign candidate would be a better bet to lead the Three Lions and has called on the FA not to be rushed into a quick decision.

In an exclusive interview with talkSPORT, the former England goalkeeper said: “I think England should be looking abroad for a new manager.

“I look at the England players and 99 per cent of the players had foreign managers at club level going into the tournament.

“Sam is one of the rare English managers in the Premier League. Increasingly it seems you have foreign managers managing English players and if there is such a thing as foreign identity that becomes compromised when you have an English manager with an English identity for the national side, because you are asking the players to be completely different.”

Former Germany boss Jurgen Klinsmann, currently managing the US national side, is one foreign candidate who has been talked about as a potential successor to Hodgson.

And James believes he would be far more suitable for the Three Lions role than Allardyce.

He added: “If it was Klinsman, then you have got someone who has played in England, who was liked tremendously by Tottenham fans and generally in the Premier League. He had a very good air about him.

“He has done very well with the US national side, he has been a winner himself, so when it comes to ticking boxes then Jurgen Klinsmann would tick far more than most other candidates at the moment.”