Having spent much of the last few weeks firefighting for PR reasons, Tottenham Hotspur look in disarray. An end of season 4-2 win at Leicester City was a nice moment for stand-in head coach Ryan Mason, though it was also mixed with the likelihood that Harry Kane will be leaving. However, the England striker might want to hold off just a few weeks, if reports of two of the main candidates for the job turn out to be true.
Despite accepting that the top tier candidates would be out of reach, things might have changed.
Mauricio Pochettino
He couldn’t…. could he?
Spurs fans are naturally excited at the talk of a return for the Argentine hero who took the club to Madrid. The Paris Saint-Germain coach has already seen his return to his dream club shattered with poor performances, losing their head in the UEFA Champions League, and missing out on the league title. Instead, they have a Coupe de France to show for what is likely a very poor season overall.
Pochettino, though, has reportedly found it hard to integrate with much of the PSG squad and the blow-up exit to Manchester City has created concern. Some worry that his style of coaching and management is more suited to the underdog role, and that he cannot convince the star talent to play the style of football that he is asking.
As such, a quick exit from PSG could take place. Keep in mind that for all of the affection Pochettino has shown PSG that the club is essentially a different animal from the club he played for in the past. The days of being an underdog in Paris are gone; and that could put Pochettino back on the market.
Antonio Conte
Seen by many Spurs fans as the dream signing, Internazionale coach Conte was a distant dream. Early reports suggested he had laughed off an approach from Spurs, with a €12m salary and a winning project at Inter making any exit unlikely. However, financial woes and the uncompromising nature of owner Stephen Zhang’s approach to the pandemic has seen Conte face facts.
Inter will need to sell at least one ‘untouchable’ player, are struggling to renew the contract of stars like Alessandro Bastoni, and look unlikely to add to the squad. Reports in Italy suggest that Conte wants no part of a rebuild, and wanted to instead strengthen his team again. Believing he has worked miracles in Milan, Conte is set to depart from Inter unless the club can show him a project that is worth sticking around for.
That would leave Spurs with a tiny window of opportunity to land one of the best coaches in world football. Though some tentative reports suggest a move to Real Madrid could take place in a wild merry-go round of managers, Spurs might have the allure to Conte as they can offer a chance to return to London and the Premier League, which he hugely enjoyed.
Whatever happens, the last few days have added some candidates fans no doubt thought were impossible to land.
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