The Football Association is to draw up an official shortlist for the England manager's job and begin the process of establishing the availability of the people in question, starting with Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp's work at Tottenham Hotspur has formed the most significant part of the talks, led by the FA's chairman, David Bernstein, since Fabio Capello resigned over the row about John Terry being stripped of the captaincy. However, Redknapp is not the only candidate who has been discussed at length. While Redknapp is known to want the job, the FA is aware that Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and José Mourinho at Real Madrid would be high-calibre alternatives.

Both would be highly ambitious moves, particularly in the case of Guardiola, but the FA has shown before it is willing to go for the best possible candidates. Mourinho, who looks set to leave Madrid at the end of the season, was approached before Capello's appointment and the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, has also been sounded out before. Bernstein and his colleagues do not want to leave Redknapp as the only possible option, not least as it would affect the potential salary negotiations. Yet the Tottenham manager remains the overwhelming favourite.

The FA is acutely aware of both public opinion and the support for him among the England players but is having to balance that with not wanting to be accused of disrupting Tottenham's season at a time when they are third in the Premier League and still in the FA Cup. As such, it is still not clear when an approach may be made and whether the process will be dramatically accelerated now England's game against Holland is out of the way.

In the meantime the caretaker manager, Stuart Pearce, will continue to oversee the operational side of England's preparations for Euro 2012 and has been authorised to change Capello's schedule and warm-up programme. Pearce has informed the FA that he would like to stay in charge until the end of the competition before relinquishing the role and returning to manage the England Under-21s on the basis he is "not ready for the senior international job and all that comes with it".

He said: "I am available for the summer, definitely. If I'm needed, I will manage the country. But if someone else is brought in, that will be the case."