Tottenham turn to Erik ten Hag, Mauricio Pochettino after Conte blow

According to the Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur will now turn their focus back towards AFC Ajax’s Erik ten Hag and PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino after their pursuit of Antonio Conte ended.

Conte had been heavily tipped to become the new Tottenham manager over the last couple of days. Talks had been going on between the two parties for some time. However, the club decided to call off their pursuit of the Italian due to some of the 51-year-old’s demands. (h/t Evening Standard)

This is the latest setback for Tottenham in pursuit of a new manager, having seen the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, Hansi Flick all distance themselves from the job in the past.

Back to square one

Back at square one now, Tottenham have turned their attention back towards another previous target in Ajax’s Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman had been linked with the job but signed a one-year contract with his current club, thus delivering a blow to the chances of Spurs landing him. However, with Conte now out of the picture, ten Hag is back on the club’s radar.

Another target that Daniel Levy & co. will now look at is former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine was touted to be a top target for the club until talks with Conte accelerated. In fact, it had even been claimed that Poch had informed current club PSG that he wanted to quit.

Things had quietened down after Conte emerged as the front-runner though. But with the Italian no longer in the reckoning, Spurs are likely to turn back to the 49-year-old Argentine yet again.

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All this is just painting a bad picture for the club’s image. Mourinho has been gone for well over a month. It has been over two weeks since the season ended. And while it is understandable that the club is keen on getting it right, hopping from one candidate to another candidate does not reflect well.

Hopefully, a candidate is narrowed down upon at the earliest possible and an appointment is made, with the transfer window almost upon us.