Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel are leading the race to replace Antonio Conte as Tottenham head coach at the end of the season. The Italian sees his contract with Spurs expire in the summer but the north London outfit hold the option to extend his deal by a further 12 months if they wish to do so.
football.london understand that Tottenham are hoping to tie Conte down to a new long-term contract to increase stability at Hotspur Way. The former Chelsea boss has previously admitted that he struggled to acclimatise to life at N17, being at a club not as high up in the food chain compared to his title-winning tasks in the past.
In January, Conte also insisted that he will leave Spurs if he is 'not convinced' by the project anymore. With the Tottenham coach yet to pen an extension, significant doubt has been cast over the future of his position in north London.
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And, several sections of the fanbase have already begun debating who they would like to replace Conte in the event that he does depart. Some have suggested that Mauricio Pochettino should return, while others have taken an interest in Roberto De Zerbi's work at Brighton.
According to BetFair, Pochettino is in fact odds-on favourite, at 7/4, to be appointed in the Spurs dugout just over three years after he was sacked. At 11/2, Tuchel is second in the race to replace Conte, ahead of Brentford boss Thomas Frank in third at 9/1.
At 10/1 is Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier and in fifth is De Zerbi at 13/1. Unsurprisingly, a return for Jose Mourinho looks wide of the mark coming in at 101/1 to be next Tottenham boss.
In the meantime, Conte has just a few months to decide whether he can take Spurs' 'big project' to the next level. Speaking to the press in January, he said: "Here, I understood that my task is different.
"My task here is to help the club, to build a solid foundation, to create a base and then to try to improve. This is my task here, this is my challenge here.
"If you ask me - and the challenge for you - is to win the Premier League, to win the Champions League, this is not the task here in this moment. The task for me is to help the club.
"I found and I signed a contract in November 2021 when I found the club in a difficult position for many reasons. Now my task, I understood it very well, is to try to help the club go in the right direction or to come back in the right direction about the choices of the players, about the work, to organise and to create a foundation.
"Now this is my big challenge here. Now if I want to stay here, then I have to accept this. Otherwise, if I do not want to accept this then I have to go."
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