A familiar face could be set to lead Iraq at next year’s Asian Cup in the UAE, with former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson in talks to take charge of the 2007 champions for the tournament.

Iraqi football officials are confident that the ex-Manchester City and Lazio coach will sign up to lead the Lions of Mesopotamia, according to reports.

The 70-year-old Swede met with representatives of the Iraq Football Association in Istanbul this week and Reuters cites a federation source as saying Eriksson had agreed to take charge of the team. The source said the matter would be discussed further by the federation on Monday.

Sources close to Eriksson, however, told Reuters that the vastly experienced coach had yet to make a decision on whether to accept the offer.

Iraq are due to play in next year’s Asian Cup finals, 12 years after claiming their sole continental title, beating three-time champions Saudi Arabia in the Jakarta final in 2007.

They have been drawn with Iran, Vietnam and Yemen in the group phase of the tournament, which will kick off in the Emirates on January 5, 2019.

If Eriksson is to lead the Lions into battle, he will face Vietnam in the Group D opener at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City Stadium on January 8, before heading to Sharjah to take on Yemen four days later, with a likely table-topping clash against Iran taking place at Al Nasr’s Al Maktoum Stadium on January 16.

Eriksson, who led England to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2002 and 2006, has not coached at international level since working with the Ivory Coast at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The veteran manager has been in China since 2013, with his most recent role in the country’s second division when he spent half a season with Shenzhen FC. He also had stints with Chinese Super League giants Guangzhou R&F and Shanghai SIPG.

Prior to working with England, Eriksson won league titles in Sweden, Portugal and Italy.