Tottenham face struggle to convince Thomas Tuchel to become new manager – despite ex-Chelsea boss being Spurs fan

TOTTENHAM face a battle to convince Thomas Tuchel as their new manager.

Ex-Chelsea boss Tuchel and ex-Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino are the top candidates to succeed Antonio Conte.

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It’s now a question of when, not if, Conte will leave from hell after a week that saw the club fall from both the FA Cup and Champions League.

His contract expires in the summer and Spurs will NOT renew.

Chairman Daniel Levy is understood to have reservations about bringing back fan-favorite Pochettino.

But if he chooses Tuchel, he will have to convince the German manager that he can give him the tools to make Tottenham a serious contender for the trophy.

Conte, 53, admitted he feared sacking after Wednesday’s Champions League KO against AC Milan.

Spurs have no immediate plans to ditch the Italian, who has just recovered from emergency gallbladder surgery.

But the board could change course if they feel Tottenham’s chances of a place in the top four are in jeopardy.

Tuchel, 49, has been a free agent since being shocked by Chelsea’s billionaire owner Todd Boehly against Stamford Bridge in September.

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The ex-Borussia Dortmund manager insists he was a Spurs fan growing up and was intrigued by their ‘adventurous’ name, Tottenham Hotspur.

He is believed to be keen on a return to England.

But after guiding Paris Saint-Germain to a Champions League final in 2020 before winning the competition with Chelsea a year later, Tuchel was awaiting a vacancy at an elite club.

However, some fans may object to the prospect of a FIFTH ex-Blues boss being hired by Levy, who has previously appointed Glenn Hoddle, Andre Villas-Boas, Jose Mourinho and Conte.

A return for Poch would be a crowd pleaser considering how popular he was five years into Spurs’ leadership.

The Argentine led them to the 2019 Champions League final and his name was chanted by fans in Wednesday’s 0-0 Round of 16 second leg draw against Milan, who beat the Italian giants 1-0 on aggregate.

Other candidates for Conte’s job include ex-Spain and Barcelona boss Luis Enrique, Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi and Eintracht Frankfurt manager Oliver Glasner.

The situation gets even more complicated as the club awaits the fate of football director Fabio Paratici, who has a huge say in manager appointments.

Paratici will know within a month whether his appeal against a two-and-a-half-year ban on Italian football is successful.

If not, the ban could be extended worldwide for his part in alleged financial irregularities at former club Juventus, in which case his role at Spurs would surely become untenable.

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