The coach's position with the Magpies has become less certain amid talk of "friction" with new sporting director Paul Mitchell and the former Manchester United star thinks that replacing Gareth Southgate would be "the next step up" in his career.

Neville told the 'Stick to Football' podcast: "If I was Eddie Howe, I would go and look after myself.

"You’ve had a great Premier League career, you’ve done a brilliant job.

"You’ve been fantastic at Newcastle. You’ve almost closed that chapter of their development.

"England are in a great position with players. You’re going to be working with amazing players.

"The next step up in Eddie’s career would be England."

The Sky Sports pundit thinks it will be challenging for Howe to get a better job than Newcastle in terms of Premier League clubs and thinks that he would take over as England boss if presented with the opportunity.

Neville said: "It’s difficult to get a Chelsea job, or Man United or Liverpool. He’ll know that.

"He might get Tottenham at some point in the future.

"My point is for Eddie, it’s difficult… to win with England, you’d have a chance of getting one of those top jobs.

"I think it’s his next step up, and I think he would take that job.

"He’s got to be proactive and not wait for other people to determine his outcome."

Neville stressed that Howe needs to decide on his future now as he could be left in an awkward position if the Newcastle saga continues over the coming months.

The former England defender said: "I think he'll lose if this drags on until January or February.

"It ends for him but (by then) the England job has been given to someone else - and he's lost both."