Antonio Conte's future at Tottenham Hotspur seems to be in its final stages and naturally attention turns to who will succeed him in the hot seat.
The Spurs head coach is currently in Italy as he often is for the majority of the first week of international breaks due to the lack of first team players to train. The question now is whether he will return at all to Hotspur Way, where Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason are training the players and led a first team/U21s friendly against Ipswich on Thursday.
We asked our Tottenham correspondents Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest to give their verdict on who they would like to see replace Conte if he does head out of the exit door at the north London club.
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Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent
If Conte does depart in the coming days, then it's crucial that whoever comes in gets the Tottenham fans enjoying supporting their club again.
The Italian had that happening towards the end of last season but this campaign has been a slog. For me, I'd like to see Spurs go back to appointing a young project manager who wants to be at the club for the long-term, rather than going for win-now managers who are being forced to work within a very different and less suitable environment.
I do like the romantic notion of getting a reenergised and more experienced Mauricio Pochettino back to sort out that "unfinished business" he's spoken about and I do think his return would galvanise a lot of the fanbase and he knows Spurs inside out and how to fight the fires within. However, reappointing him would be admitting a big mistake by the club's powers-that-be and that's not something they've always shown a willingness to do.
They need to choose the right person - someone who fits the club - after recent years of missteps. If that means taking their time and therefore taking the gamble on giving Ryan Mason 10 games with Champions League qualification in the balance then that might just have to be the price if Tottenham believe the right manager is available in the summer rather than a Pochettino, Enrique or Tuchel now.
Who knows, Mason might even prove to be Tottenham's own Arteta in the making, stepping up for his first managerial job like the Spaniard did, albeit at the Arsenal man was a bit older.
I like the idea of a Nagelsmann, De Zerbi or Amorim, a younger manager coming in and doing what Pochettino did back in 2014. Both have big release clauses, but the club needs an identity again after lurching from one footballing extreme to the next in recent years.
If Pochettino's time is not now, then recreate what he did and this time back the manager and stick with him to surpass what came before.
Rob Guest - Tottenham Hotspur reporter
Mauricio Pochettino? Roberto De Zerbi? Luis Enrique? Ruben Amorim? Ange Postecoglou? It is going to be very intriguing to see who Daniel Levy moves for when it comes to finding Conte's long-term Tottenham successor.
While all have their own merits and the credentials to take on the hotseat in N17, the Spurs chairman should make his move for Pochettino once again. The Argentine just ticks so many boxes for Tottenham and he can be the man to get the club back on track.
The return of Pochettino may not be straightforward for some as it would in essence be admitting a mistake in dismissing him back in November 2019, but Tottenham just need to do what is right for the club as this current situation cannot continue. Spurs need a vision going forward and Pochettino demonstrated in his previous spell that he can oversee a massive project and get the club challenging at the right end of the table with some eye-catching football to boot.
If he was to come back to north London then it would be a similar situation to when he first arrived at White Hart Lane in May 2014 as players need to be moved on, the squad needs refreshing, a new culture needs to be instilled and he can shape the club as he sees fit. He is literally the perfect man to sort this current malaise out, even though the structure of the club has changed since he departed.
As he is without a job at present following his PSG exit, Levy could move for him as soon as Conte's Tottenham tenure comes to an end. That would allow the 51-year-old time to work with the current players, make his mind up over them and get his plans firmly in place for 2023/24 rather than doing that in the first few weeks of pre-season.
Pochettino just suits Tottenham down to the ground. Move for him now!
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