Sven-Goran Eriksson insists he would have no hesitation in telling anyone offered the England job to seize the "fantastic" opportunity with both hands.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick will not rule out appointing another foreigner as Eriksson's successor, and the England head coach himself said the job was worth all the aggravation.
The FA and Eriksson yesterday agreed a deal that will see the Swede step down from his job after the World Cup, two years before his contract was due to expire.
However, it was revealed today that Eriksson already had an agreement with Barwick to leave after the finals and permission to discuss other job opportunities so long as he kept the FA chief informed.
Thoughts are already turning who the man who will take up the England reigns and Eriksson said: "If anyone asks me I would just say take it, because it is a huge job, a fantastic job.
"Do I feel any sense of relief? No. I always liked the job and I still do. We have a fantastic team and we have a chance to do very well in Germany, to get to the final and hopefully win it."
The revelation that Eriksson also discussed the possibility of staying on until 2010 as well as being given the option of stepping down after the World Cup will also raise eyebrows in the game.
"We had a private agreement that more or less I would be allowed to leave after the World Cup - if I wanted," added Eriksson.
"The only one who knew is Brian, myself and my agent. On his first day Brian asked me into his office and we started talking about what's going to happen after the World Cup in 2006.
"I went to see him yesterday and I was asked to win the World Cup and then look after my life. And if we win the World Cup, then it will be 'thank you and goodbye'."
Barwick was reluctant to refer at all to Eriksson's successor but he did concede that although an Englishman would be preferable he believed foreign coaches should not be excluded from the selection process.
"This is not probably the day to talk about Sven's successor but I believe it should be the best person for the job," said Barwick. "But if he's preferably English so much the better.
"That has to be where we start, but I think today is about explaining where the next five months will take us rather than the next five years."
Eriksson accepted he will be linked with every high-profile coaching job in football, but pledged not
to spend time on any negotiations when he was with England or watching matches.
He said: "We have to look at the World Cup and concentrate on that. At the moment this is the most important thing because we have a chance to win it. Let us not spoil that.
"There will be a lot of rumours that's for sure, every time a club is losing my name will crop up. But I will not listen to other clubs and countries when there is football going on in England."
Asked if he intended to look for work with an English club after the World Cup, he said: "I have absolutely no idea. The only thing I know for sure is that I don't want to claim my pension yet. I don't have any offers at all. In football, you don't look for jobs - you are asked."
