Britain will enter a team into the Olympic football tournament for the first time in almost 40 years when the track and field extravaganza heads to English shores in three years' time, with the squad expected to consist of English players only after the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Football Associations refused to participate.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, England U21 coach Stuart Pearce and Fulham manager Roy Hodgson have all been strongly linked with the role of leading the team in 2012.
But, according to the Daily Mirror, former West Ham and Portsmouth chief Redknapp is the current front-runner, after turning around Tottenham's fortunes since joining the White Hart Lane outfit last Autumn.
The reports claims that Redknapp has already been approached privately by the Football Association about the short-term job.
FA chairman Lord Triesman previously confirmed that an appointment will be made by the end of this year.
“We are now going to start looking at this and I would be very disappointed if we have not appointed a coach for the Olympic team by the end of the calendar year," he said.
“The coach needs that length of time to identify the players who will make up his squad and start working with them to develop a team spirit.
“We can’t appoint a Scot, Welshman or Northern Irishman as that would go against our agreement with the other home nations.
“Having a foreign coach is not out of the question, but it will be fantastic to have an Olympics on home soil so it would be great to have a home-grown coach.”
