Celtic hopes of holding on to Ange Postecoglou look set to be tested to the max when Tottenham Hotspur launch their move for the Australian after Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final.
Record Sport understands the Parkhead club’s top brass are already bracing themselves for an official approach to come from north London, possibly as early as next week, after sources in the capital confirmed Postecoglou’s name is now at the top of Spurs’ wanted list. The major development comes just days after Record Sport revealed Aussie super agent Frank Trimboli – a close confidant of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy – was in Glasgow at the weekend as a VIP guest at the club’s title party.
It’s understood Trimboli has played a key role in persuading Levy to turn his attention to Postecoglou after a string of botched attempts at finding a replacement for Antonio Conte – the latest of which saw Feyenoord boss Arne Slot rule himself out of the running last week.
Trimboli has also been credited with playing a role in the appointment of Tottenham’s new chief football operator, compatriot Scott Munn, who begins his role as Levy’s second in command on July 1 and is already well aware of Postecoglou’s credentials as a shrewd tactician and builder of teams. And now Levy looks set to back their judgment by testing Celtic’s resolve – and tempting Postecoglou with one of the biggest salaries available to any manager in British football.
It’s widely reported that Conte was taking home a whopping £15m a year during his time in charge at Spurs – which equates to a weekly wage of almost £290,000. While Postecoglou might not be given Conte’s enormous financial package he would nonetheless be guaranteed a staggering pay rise, dwarfing his current Celtic salary which is believed to be around £2m a year or £40,000 a week.
The 57-year-old dodged a raft of questions regarding a possible Spurs move over the weekend, insisting that he is focused solely on wrapping up a domestic Treble in Saturday’s Hampden showpiece against Inverness Caley Thistle.
But while Postecoglou was declining to make any public comment, his adviser Trimboli watched on from the Parkhead directors’ box as Celtic celebrated a second successive top flight title with a 5-0 routing of Aberdeen. Postecoglou has been linked with a number of Premier League jobs throughout the season with the likes of Leeds, Leicester and Southampton all credited with an interest at some stage.
But while those three clubs are now preparing for life in next season’s championship after losing relegation battles, Spurs would offer the ambitious Aussie the chance to compete at the top end of the Premier League. Celtic will hope Postecoglou may regard the Champions League as unfinished business after failing to lead his side through this season’s group stages in his first crack at European football’s elite event.
The Glasgow giants have already secured a golden ticket into the group stages of next season’s competition and chairman Peter Lawwell will hope that tantalising carrot might help persuade Postecoglou to hang around for at least one more year. But, with London calling, Celtic may have to begin planning for Postecoglou’s replacement ahead of their next European campaign.
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