Tottenham Hotspur could reportedly finalise the appointment of Celtic's Ange Postecoglou as their new head coach next week.
Lilywhites chairman Daniel Levy has already suffered several setbacks in his pursuit of a permanent successor to Antonio Conte, who left by mutual consent at the end of March.
Conte departed only a few days after Julian Nagelsmann was surprisingly given the boot by Bayern Munich, and the German was immediately linked with the North London hotseat.
Tottenham's chances of landing Nagelsmann were seemingly boosted after the German pulled out of the running to take over at Chelsea, but the 35-year-old is not being considered for the Spurs job either.
The Lilywhites were briefly tipped to re-hire Mauricio Pochettino, but the Argentine was confirmed as Chelsea's new head coach on Monday, and no talks were believed to have been held over a reunion.
© Reuters
Instead of Pochettino, Tottenham were prioritising talks with Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot, but the Dutchman swiftly ruled himself out of the running before agreeing a new deal with the Eredivisie champions.
Celtic's title-winning coach Postecoglou was next on the shortlist, and after a spate of blows in their managerial search, Tottenham may finally get their man.
According to The Sun, the 57-year-old could be confirmed as Tottenham's new head coach within the next several days, and Celtic have accepted that their head coach will move on.
Postecoglou and Celtic are currently preparing for Saturday's Scottish Cup final with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and Spurs will not step up their pursuit of the Bhoys boss until that match has concluded.
However, Postecoglou is open to the idea of testing himself in the Premier League, and Tottenham reportedly hope to thrash out the final details early next week.
© Reuters
With the former Australia boss on a rolling one-year contract, Tottenham will not have to pay Celtic any compensation, which was believed to have been a stumbling block in their pursuits of Nagelsmann and Slot.
Celtic are already believed to be drawing up a list of replacements for Postecoglou, namely West Ham United's David Moyes, as the Athens-born coach prepares to depart Parkhead after two years in charge.
Since succeeding Neil Lennon in 2021, Postecoglou has steered Celtic to a pair of Scottish Premiership and Scottish League Cup titles, and victory over Inverness on Saturday would complete a treble for the Bhoys in the 2022-23 season.
The 57-year-old has won 82, drawn 12 and lost 18 of his 112 matches in charge of Celtic, who achieved 99 points and scored 114 goals in the 2022-23 Scottish Premiership season.
Since Conte's bitter exit in March, Tottenham's first team have been under the wing of Cristian Stellini - who served as the Italian's assistant - and Ryan Mason, the former of whom was sacked after just 29 days as acting head coach.
Mason did not fare much better than his predecessor with just two wins from six games in charge, as Spurs finished eighth in the Premier League table and missed out on a place in Europe for the 2023-24 season.
Ben Knapton
