The BBC are yet to decide who will replace Gary Lineker as the presenter of Match of the Day when he steps down at the end of the 2024/25 season after 25 years at the helm
BBC presenter Manish Bhasin has responded to suggestions he should succeed Gary Lineker as the presenter of Match of the Day.
Lineker will step down as the host of the BBC’s Premier League highlights show at the end of the season. He took over from Des Lynam in 1999 and will leave big shoes to fill, having become synonymous with the iconic programme.
The BBC are yet to decide who they want to replace Lineker, but are believed to want to appeal more to a younger audience. Roman Kemp has been put forward as a possible contender for a role on the show, while Football Focus presenter Alex Scott, Sky Sports’ Kelly Cates and TNT Sports anchor Reshmin Chowdhury have also been mentioned in reports.
Another idea that has reportedly been floated is for revolving presenters, rather than one chief presenter like Lineker. Mark Chapman, who presents Match of the Day 2 among many other things for the BBC, is the favourite.
Bhasin is a stalwart of presenting on the BBC, having first joined the corporation in 2004 to work on Football Focus. The 48-year-old went on to present The Football League Show, which was broadcast after Match of the Day on a Saturday night when the BBC acquired the rights to the Football League.
He is currently working for Premier League Productions and Amazon on Premier League football, so could be a candidate for the Match of the Day job. Bhasin sat in on Match of the Day 2 in the past and has developed a rapport with current Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, who left last season, while working for PLP.
However, it doesn’t seem as though Bhasin thinks he’s in with a shot. Replying to a tweet which said “Your time has finally come”, Bhasin wrote: “I wish! Thanks for the kind comments though.”
Lineker, 63, has taken the news with good grace and has not commented on who he would like to take over. “Obviously, I don’t know who it’ll be, and I would never tell publicly my preference, I don’t think that’d be the right thing to do – but whoever it is, I would say be yourself,” he said on the Rest is Football podcast.
“I had to fill the ginormous shoes of certain Des Lynam. I would say just be yourself and enjoy it, it’s a wonderful programme to be a part of. It was brilliant before I took over, and it will be brilliant after I leave.”
Explaining the decision why he was being dropped, Lineker said: “It came at a point where really the BBC and Match Of The Day, they’ve got the rights for another three years, the cycle starts from next season so it felt like if I just do one more year it would be a bit weird.
“I bowed out in my football career when I felt it was the right time. I feel this is now the right time. I think the next contract they’re looking to do Match Of The Day slightly differently, so I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.”
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