Ian Foster has left his role as England Under-20 boss to join Steven Gerrard in Saudi Arabia.

According to dailymail.co.uk, the 46-year-old former Pompey head coach candidate resigned from his role with the FA last week in order to link up with the former Liverpool captain at Al-Ettifaq.

Gerrard was appointed manager of the Saudi Pro League club last week and has since been appointing members of his backroom staff.

That includes Liverpool analyst Ray Shearwood. Now Foster has been added to his list of assistants, ending his six-year association with England, with whom he won the Under-19 European Championships in 2021.

The Scouser has strong Fratton Park links after serving as an assistant to Paul Cook during his time in charge of the Blues. He spent 21 months at PO4, before being made part of the England age-group set-up at St George’s Park in February 2017 – just months before Pompey secured the 2016-17 League Two title.

Meanwhile, Foster was strongly fancied to make a return to the south coast in January of this year as a successor to Danny Cowley was sought.

At the time, The News understood that the highly-rated coach was interested in taking the club forward.

However, such a move never materialised, with John Mousinho appointed head coach on January 20.

Former Pompey coach and head coach candidate Ian Foster

placeholder image — Former Pompey coach and head coach candidate Ian Foster

Since then Foster helped guide England’s under-20s to the last 16 of their respective World Cup in May.

And although not a household name, it’s another key defection to Saudi Arabia, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Gerrard leading the way.