Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Tottenham going round in circles as two candidates to replace Nuno named

Paulo Fonseca TEAMtalk

Two more Portuguese coaches are among the frontrunners to replace Nuno Espirito Santo as Tottenham Hotspur head coach, according to reports.

Nuno risks losing his job just four months into his reign. A defeat to Manchester United on Saturday highlighted discontent at the club and Nuno could pay the price.

He was originally ruled out of the running to replace Jose Mourinho in the summer until frustrations in other pursuits prompted Spurs to backtrack.

Now, it is perhaps starting to become clear why Tottenham were reluctant to give him the job in the first place. Discussions are understood to have been held on Sunday about the prospect of immediately dismissing Nuno.

Tottenham would be back at square one in that case, but a change may be necessary.

According to Football Insider, Ryan Mason is in line to take charge as interim manager again, just as he did following Mourinho’s departure at the end of last season.

They claim there is a chance Mason could oversee first team matters until Christmas.

But the search for a new permanent manager already appears to be underway. According to the Evening Standard, Tottenham are considering Paulo Fonseca and Sergio Conceicao.

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Fonseca was previously close to taking the job in the summer, in what would have effectively been a swap of roles with Mourinho, who replaced him at Roma.

But managing director Fabio Paratici did not agree with some of Fonseca’s ideas and the deal collapsed.

The Mozambique-born, Portuguese coach has still been looking for his next job since. He has been a frontrunner to replace Steve Bruce at Newcastle and is still under consideration there, even if he may no longer be the favourite.

Whether he can see eye to eye with Paratici now is unclear. But he may have a point to prove.

Tottenham also consider Conceicao

Alternatively, Spurs may look elsewhere. But once again it would be in the direction of someone of Portuguese origin.

It is also claimed that Conceicao is on their radar thanks to his efforts with Porto, where he has been in charge since 2017.

Porto have won five trophies under his management. They still have him under contract until 2024. He has won 2.28 points per match during his tenure.

Tottenham would have to pay compensation to free him from Porto, which may complicate the picture.

The report says these are just two of the ideas being considered by Tottenham. They will likely have to keep their options open again after the summer’s draining search.

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