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Gary Lineker announced he would be leaving MOTD at the end of the season
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Former striker-turned-presenter Gary Lineker shocked the nation on Monday as it was revealed he would be stepping down from his role as Match of the Day presenter at the end of the season. The presenter, who ranked at No. 45 in Four Four Two's list of the greatest Barcelona players of all time, will bring an end to a 26-year stint as the face of Britain's favourite football show and will leave the BBC entirely after the 2026 FIFA World Cup. According to BBC News, Lineker was eager to stay with the BBC ahead of contract negotiations in October before failing to come to an agreement, leading to a departure has now been confirmed. Lineker's departure will open the door for one of the country's most coveted presenting roles with a host of sports media titans being linked with filling the vacancy. Regular fixtures on the BBC are amongst the most heavily-linked names early on, with MOTD 2 presenter Mark Chapman and Football Focus lead Alex Scott expected to be the leading candidates. According to Oddschecker, Chapman currently leads the way with the bookmakers' odds, with value settling around 6/4 for him to be announced as the next full-time presenter. Sky Sports presenter Kelly Cates comes in at 2nd spot, valued at 4/1, having become the face of Sky's Friday Night Football show in recent years, having racked up almost two decades of presenting experience in her career. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. The aforementioned Alex Scott shares the third spot with fellow BBC stalwart Gabby Logan, both coming in at 6/1, with bookies seemingly expecting the BBC to explore options to appoint MOTD's first-ever female full-time presenter. Another BBC old-timer and long-standing Final Score host Jason Mohammed has also been heavily included in other lists of potential replacements. The BBC will have until the end of the season to appoint a new host, while Lineker, now aged 63, admitted it was time to 'slow down' in a recent interview with Esquire. The pundit is a co-host of the highly successful 'The Rest is Football' podcast alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, which is produced by his own production company, Goalhanger. James Ridge is a freelance journalist based in the UK. He recently spent time with The United Stand as an online news editor and has covered the beautiful game from England’s eighth tier all the way to the Premier League. 'He will go' Sporting Director has spoken about Viktor Goykeres' future and given January verdict as interest intensifies Liverpool looking to offload 2023 Jurgen Klopp signing as soon as January: report Liverpool fans 'most worried' about Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving for free next summer Four Four Two is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. ©
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