Tottenham’s managerial search will resume after Sunday’s clash with Leeds with Ange Postecoglou, Luis Enrique and Ruben Amorim now in the spotlight.
After Arne Slot signed a new deal at Feyenoord – MailSport understands that Spurs were led to believe his exit fee would be £5m when in reality Feyenoord wanted £17m, though Tottenham deny negotiations with the Dutch club – there is no immediate end in sight. Slot, it is said, was but one candidate on a longer list.
Xabi Alonso, believed to be the No.1 choice, had ruled himself out and Postecoglou could well commit to another year at , though as he is on a rolling one-year deal, there is no expensive exit clause. Yet his ultimate ambition is to see Celtic in a Champions League knock-out stage and the team has largely been recruited by him. It is believed he wants to make good on that ambition next season.
If Enrique was the candidate Levy wanted, Spurs could have appointed him within days of Antonio Conte leaving. He would come with treble winning credentials from . But Spurs don’t appear to be in a rush to appoint him.
Tottenham’s managerial search is set to continue, with Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou one of three leading candidates
Luis Enrique (left) and Ruben Amorim (right) are the other two names in the spotlight
Spurs have already been turned down by their top target, Feyenoord manager Arne Slot
Indeed, several agents around Europe representing coaches who might be expected to be interviewed have had initial contact but no follow up calls. Julian Nagelsmann is understood to have been left in the dark, unsure whether Spurs wanted him or not.
Candidates who may gather momentum next week are Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi. The latter seems unlikely given the excellent current relationship with Tony Bloom at Brighton and the prospect of Europa League football at Brighton. But he fits everything Levy wants at the club.
So does Potter, despite his stormy eight months at Chelsea. He is certainly more of a collaborator with rather than a fighter of chairman. Among those that have studied his career long term, his reputation as one of the best coaches remains, even if Chelsea has inevitably dented it for now. His unique brand of sanity might be just what the madhouse needs.
It means Tottenham go into Sunday’s clash at Leeds with many more questions than answers, not least whether this will be Harry Kane’s last game for the club. The smart money is that he runs down his contract and organises a mega move next summer on a free, when all of a saved £100m transfer fee can be diverted to his wages.
Manchester United and Real Madrid are likely to inquire early next week. If business is to be done, they will want it done quick, which isn’t the Tottenham way.
It’s hard to recall now but it’s only ten months ago when the season started amidst optimism. For those that insist Levy and owner Joe Lewis are more interested in profit than plaudits, it needs pointing out that they injected £150m of equity into the club at Conte’s behest last summer.
Richarlison arrived for £52m, Yves Bissouma for £26m and Djed Spence for £13m. Where once Spurs were reluctant to sign players without re-sale value, Ivan Perisic came, apparently a ready-made top four player on high wages. They converted loan deals of Cristian Romero and Djean Kulsevski into permanent transfers.
Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi could gather pace as an option over the next week
As could Graham Potter, who has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in April
‘One thing I will say is he [Levy] spent money,’ said interim coach Ryan Mason on Friday. ‘He’s tried. I just think, ultimately, he’s probably been let down by other people. But that’s football. That happens and hopefully we can get things right quickly, make good decisions and turn things around.’
Mason has tried to steer the ship into port through the inclement weather with limited success following the Conte’s departure in March and the exit of his No.2 Cristian Stellini in April.
‘We haven’t won an away game since January and conceded, link alternatif winstar88 what, 60-plus goals [it’s 62] this season?’ said Mason. ‘So this isn’t something that’s just happened in recent weeks. Obviously, we were left in a position in the league table [when Conte left] that’s probably false, in terms of other teams had games in hand. When you level them out, I think we might have been seventh. So there’s a lot of things that were probably false.’
That is true but Spurs were still fourth when Conte left and on course for another Champions League finish, even if Newcastle, Liverpool and Brighton had those games in hand. They had lost nine Premier League games, though it was the dis-spiriting Cup exits which had so undermined morale. Since then Spurs have lost five in nine Premier League games.
Prior to Conte leaving they conceded 40 goals or 1.43 per game. Since then they have conceded 22 or 2.44 goals per game. Life had become toxic with Conte and the football unbearable at times. But it’s still hard to believe, however bad it got, he would have let that happen on his watch.