English Football Association officials and their Manchester City counterparts have thrashed out a compromise that will allow Stuart Pearce to take charge of the England Under-21 team.
On Sunday, Pearce publicly stated he had accepted the job of succeeding Peter Taylor, only for his club to immediately point out no agreement had been reached.
However, a solution has now been found which takes into account City's fears over Pearce being side-tracked at a key stage of the campaign.
It means Pearce, assisted by Nigel Pearson, will take command for next Tuesday's friendly with Spain at Pride Park and also this summer's European Championships, but sit out the proposed friendly in March.
The FA's director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking, one of the key figures in ending the impasse, was delighted.
"We are very pleased Stuart will take the team against Spain so that he can get to know the players," he told www.thefa.com. "However, we also realise that as manager of Manchester City, he must then give his full focus to the club until the end of the season.
"Stuart has huge international experience as a player and has already shown at Manchester City that he is a talented young manager."
Although City were anxious not to stand in Pearce's way, they felt they had to take a stand, even though their manager claimed the job would only require him to spend five days away from the Blues' Carrington training ground.
The negative reaction of many City fans to the FA's pursuit of their manager reinforced the club's position.
Taylor resigned from his post last week, claiming he could not devote the required attention to the job.
Pearce believed the Crystal Palace manager was the subject of outside pressures and claimed Taylor felt the twin role had no detriment on his work at club level, a position the City boss agreed with.
In the end, Soho Square chiefs have shown a willingness to relax their desire to have Pearce on board for the whole the warm-up campaign.
They are sure the former England skipper, who succeeded Kevin Keegan as City manager almost two years ago, is the right man for the job.
Watford's Aidy Boothroyd and Bolton assistant boss Sammy Lee - who took charge of the England side for their most recent friendly in Holland - were also said to be in the frame.
But Pearce was the stand-out candidate and together with Pearson will plot England's campaign at the prestigious eight-team UEFA tournament in Holland this summer.
"It is a fantastic honour for me," said Pearce.
"I was planning to attend the June tournament for scouting purposes and now I will have an opportunity of getting more out of the competition by working with the best youngsters in this country and pitting my wits against coaches from different nations."
