Tottenham set two-week target to confirm managerial appointment

Spurs need both a first-team head coach and a new sporting director this summer after a dismal Premier League campaign

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Tottenham Hotspur want to make a managerial appointment in the next 10-14 days, with Celtic’s Ange Postecoglou one of the leading candidates.

The Premier League club do not want to disrupt the Scottish champions’ preparation for the weekend’s Scottish Cup final, but it is expected a formal approach will follow.

Spurs have already spoken to other candidates, with Feyenoord’s Arne Slot having turned the job down, but Postecoglou is currently seen as the manager who best fits the progressive building project the club desires. Although the Australian is 57, the widespread perception in the game is that he is ready for the step-up. Spurs have also strongly considered Roberto De Zerbi, Marco Silva and Graham Potter although all are seen as more difficult to hire at this point, bar Potter. The former Chelsea manager had wanted a break but is willing to listen to the right offer this summer. Crystal Palace are already making overtures.

Spurs’ lack of a sporting director could put Potter off, but Postecoglou is in any case currently seen as a better fit.

The club’s second interim boss of the season, Ryan Mason, suggested he had fared well in his second stint at the club, but a devastating second half of the campaign saw Spurs finish eighth in the table meaning no European football next season.

Mason has urged Spurs to figure out “who we want to be” as they struggle caught between needing to rebuild and wanting to challenge quickly for trophies. Antonio Conte was dismissed without coming close to winning silverware, while previous boss Jose Mourinho was sacked before a League Cup final which Mason ultimately led the team out for to lose in 2021.

The club remains without a major trophy since the 2008 League Cup.