A new update has emerged with regard to Tottenham Hotspur's pursuit of Roberto De Zerbi.
Igor Tudor is likely to leave Spurs by mutual consent this week, with the Croatian failing to get a tune out of the Tottenham players since replacing Thomas Frank at the club in February.
Tottenham have lost four of his five games in charge, sinking deeper into trouble at the foot of the Premier League table, with the Lilywhites now just one point and one place above the bottom three with only seven games of the season left to play.
Adi Hutter and Chris Hughton have been named as potential candidates to take the reins on an interim basis once more, while Ryan Mason, Sean Dyche and Robbie Keane have also been talked about.
Tottenham Keen On De Zerbi Appointment
But there were reports on Wednesday morning that Tottenham had upped their pursuit of appointing a permanent manager before the season ends, rather than waiting until the summer, with De Zerbi the man they were chasing.
The Italian left his job at Marseille just hours before Thomas Frank was sacked by Spurs, leading to some suggestions that Tottenham had already lined up their replacement.
However, that was not to be the case, although Tottenham remain keen on talking to De Zerbi about the permanent managerial position in N17.
An update from Italy has poured cold water on De Zerbi ending his sojourn from football now and taking up the job at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before the season ends, however.
Sky Sports journalist Gianluca di Marzio has stated that De Zerbi will not be returning to the dugout now and that his original plan to wait until the summer, when he can assess his options, remains his plan of action.
De Zerbi Makes Key Decision On Future
De Zerbi has not rejected Tottenham, but prefers to wait until the season has ended, with a number of other job options open to him at that stage too. Di Marzio reports that the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss, described as "world-class" by former player Adam Lallana, has "already decided he won't return to the bench this season".
GIVEMESPORT understands that De Zerbi and Mauricio Pochettino remain the standout candidates for the full-time role at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
With two-and-a-half weeks until Spurs next play a Premier League match, the Tottenham hierarchy are holding internal talks over whether another change is needed in the dugout before the season is out. A quick decision is expected to be made, to give any potential newcomer the time to get new philosophies across to the players.