Multiple reports have labeled current Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur, and say the club will announce his signing sometime this week.
Sky Sports’ Jim White is reporting that Spurs have named Pochettino their number one target, while Goal.com’s Greg Stobart says the sides are coming to a close on a $5 million per year deal
The Press Association’s Southampton beat writer Simon Peach has confirmed the reports.
Pochettino has long been a target for Spurs, ever since the club reportedly got fed up with Frank de Boer publicly announcing his candidacy for the position and discussing private talks in public.
Reports say Pochettino is coveted at White Hart Lane despite his lack of top-level managerial experience because Daniel Levy is impressed with how he took a number of youth players and pieced them together successfully at Southampton.
Levy believes this will transfer to his patchwork squad at Spurs, which Andre Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood both were relatively unable to get the $185 million squad to play together.
Spurs spent big last summer after selling Gareth Bale, but could never effectively replace the star winger, instead buying numerous players that the managers were unable to piece together consistently.
It will now likely be Pochettino’s job to get Tottenham through the Champions League brick wall the club has run into in recent years.
His appointment also may give Spurs a leg up in any spending they decide to execute this summer, with many of Southampton’s stars such as Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, and Jay Rodriguez coveted by top teams in the Premier League.
Stobart’s report indicates that Spurs are happy that the Argentinian speaks English with his players, but will ask him to stop speaking through an interpreter during press conferences.
