Gary Neville has revealed he was in contention to become the England manager before his struggles in charge of Valencia.
The Manchester United legend joined the Three Lions setup in 2012 as part of Roy Hodgson's backroom staff.
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In late 2015, he was hired as the new head coach at Valencia but still worked with England as assistant manager during that time.
Neville had a torrid spell at the Spanish club, as he won just three of his 16 LaLiga games in charge and was sacked three months later.
But speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, he explained how his appointment at Valencia sparked the potential for him to take over from Hodgson at England.
"I've never said this publicly, but I remember getting the job in Valencia in the December, and Dan Ashworth [then FA director] rang me.
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"He said, 'This is the perfect move for you to be on that next step for when Roy decides that he's not going to be here to take over'. I've never said that, and obviously you could never say that four months in because it went so badly.
"Got a call, 'This is exactly what we wanted, we wanted you to get a number one job...' I always remember him making that call to me saying, 'This is the perfect thing for you'."
Neville added: "In the back of your mind you're thinking, 'Go there, win seven or eight games, get Valencia up the league and by the way, you could be a manager anywhere then'.
"Uour life turns in a different way for a reason, but when I look back it was right that I failed. I didn't put the work in.
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"All the things I believe in my life, the obsession about work ethic, being dedicated to something, I needed to fail to give myself a big slap around the face to say, 'Get back down there'."
Earlier on, Neville also admitted that he didn't set his sights on being a coach amid the start of his career in the media.
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"I took the Valencia job, the more I think about it, purely because of the fact I knew the owner [Peter Lim] and I was loyal to him and I felt like I owed him something because he believed in me in terms of the businesses and stuff.
"I'd been asked to go to Middlesbrough for an interview, Newcastle had asked to speak to me and a couple of other clubs, Derby I think had asked to speak to me.
"All in that previous three years when I was on Sky and I said no to everyone because it wasn't what I wanted to be. I'd started my businesses, I'd started my media career, I didn't want to be a coach.
"I said no to Newcastle and a conversation, I've never said this publicly, it was actually someone from Sky who knew a contact at Newcastle who said, 'Look, they want to speak to you'.
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"Someone from Sky contacted me about Middlesbrough as well ,believe it or not, and said, 'Look, they want to have a conversation with you'. I'm not saying that would have got me the job, but it could have got me the job."
Neville returned from Valencia and continued to work with England during Euro 2016, which was Hodgson's last tournament in charge.
The United icon didn't take over the role which has since been filled by Gareth Southgate, and hasn't coached since then.