Tottenham handed double blow in pursuit of new manager
Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino would both be open to succeeding Antonio Conte at Tottenham, but would prefer to wait until the summer to decide their next respective moves.
Spurs confirmed on Sunday night that they had mutually agreed to part ways with Conte following a dismal run of results, notably capping off his tenure by labelling his players as ‘selfish’ in an explosive press conference after drawing 3-3 with Southampton.
Conte’s former assistant, Cristian Stellini, has been placed in interim charge until the end of the season with the hunt for a new permanent boss underway – this search could be complicated by FIFA’s decision to enforce managing director of football Fabio Paratici’s footballing ban, subject to appeal.
Two of Spurs’ targets are currently out of work, with Nagelsmann recently having departed Bayern Munich and Pochettino unemployed since leaving Paris Saint-Germain last year.
Nagelsmann would like to manage in the Premier League one day but it is by no means a priority for him right now.
An interesting wrinkle in Spurs’ potential pursuits of Nagelsmann and Pochettino is that both are holding out to see whether the Real Madrid job will become available.
Carlo Ancelotti’s future at the Santiago Bernabeu remains uncertain following a limp defence of their La Liga title. 90min understands that even retaining the UEFA Champions League may not be enough to save his job.
Real Madrid have been linked to Nagelsmann and Pochettino in the past, but were concerned about their records in regards to winning titles. However, these doubts have been alleviated after leading their respective sides to Bundesliga and Ligue 1 glory.
Beyond Nagelsmann and Pochettino, another candidate high on Spurs‘ shortlist of candidates is Luis Enrique, who has been out of a job since December when he left the Spain job following their 2022 FIFA World Cup exit.
Enrique’s last club job saw him spend three years at Barcelona from 2014 to 2017. He notably won the treble in his first season back at Camp Nou and won at least one trophy every year of his reign.
