The search for Jose Mourinho’s replacement at Tottenham Hotspur continues as the club have made contact with Athletic Bilbao manager Marcelino according to reports.
Mourinho was relieved of his duties on Monday morning after 17 months in charge. He left the North-Londoners seventh in the Premier League. and also with a place in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.
Former Spurs midfielder Ryan Mason will be in charge of the team until the end of the season as the club continue their hunt for a new manager before the start of next season.
According to The Athletic, Tottenham have approached Marcelino. The 55-year-old Spanish manager has a good reputation in Spain having managed the likes of Sevilla, Villareal, and Valencia since 2011.
He was appointed as Bilbao manager in January 2021 and led them to the Spanish Super Cup title this season, beating Barcelona in the final. However, he has lost the last two Copa del Rey finals with the club.
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There are claims that Marcelino is contracted to the club until 2022 although clauses in the contract allow for his departure from the role for an affordable compensation fee this summer.
Meanwhile, reports in Italy suggest that former Chelsea and Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri has also been approached. It was claimed that the club have made contact with his agent Fati Ramadani to offer the Italian the job from next season.
Sarri is still under contract with Juventus until 2022 although he was sacked last August. Regardless, the Sarriball tactician is desperate to return to management having being dismissed by the Old Ladies.
RB Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsmann has also been linked with the job and is the club’s preferred choice for the role.
It remains to be seen if this can be actualized as the highly-rated German is being linked with Bayern Munich. Also, Spurs’ imminent failure to make it to next season’s UEFA Champions League will leave them disadvantaged in their quest to hire him.
Other managers that have been sounded out include Max Allegri although he has not yet been contacted. The likes of Roberto Martinez and even Scott Parker have also been identified as the latter is believed to have won a lot of admirers at Spurs.
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Leicester City’s Brendan Rodgers is another firm favorite for the role but would demand a large compensation fee as he signed a new contract with the club in December 2019. Meanwhile, he distanced himself from the job on Tuesday.
‘It’s football, there is always speculation around, every job which comes up there will always be different managers speculated to go in.’
‘Tottenham is a fantastic club, it’s a huge club but my focus is here. I’m at a world-class training facility, the project we’re in here we still want to develop and have a lot of work to do.
‘I have a great connection with the players, the board and we have plans to keep progressing.’
For now, Ryan Mason is the man in charge on the interim and will oversee his first game against Southampton on Wednesday night before the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on Sunday.
