Thomas Frank has been given more time to turn around Tottenham’s disastrous Premier League form despite growing fears they could get sucked into the relegation battle and amid reports that a big-name manager is keen to take over mid-season.
The north London side are one game away from reaching the Champions League knock-out stages, and a positive result this week away to Eintracht Frankfurt can book their place in the last 32 of the competition. However, it has been a thoroughly different story in the Premier League, and Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Burnley – a point salvaged by a very late Cristian Romero header – leaves Tottenham 14th in the table.
Off the back of a dismal run of form that has seen them go winless now in five league games, the pressure has hugely built up on Frank amid growing claims he could soon be sacked by Spurs.
Indeed, while our correspondent, Fraser Fletcher, reported last week that Spurs are already considering options and one Italian manager had leapt to the forefront of their thinking, it had also been confirmed that the club are not yet to axe their manager, instead preferring to give him time to address their poor run of form.
Indeed, that stance has been echoed by Football Insider, who insist Spurs chiefs ENIC, are still backing their manager.
Despite that, football finance expert, Dr Dan Plumley, has said it would cost Spurs around £8m to remove the Dane from his job, with his contract in N17 currently running until summer 2028.
Plumley told Football Insider: “You’ve seen figures reported that his salary is around £8million a year, something like that.
“There are a couple of years on it to run. Also, what you don’t often see is that the manager would get paid off the full amount of that contract. There’s likely a clause in the contract that says it can terminate at any point in time, depending on performance, and that’ll be a set fee that they’ll agree on.
“Now, again, with a little bit of professional judgment, you know, that might be something at around a year’s salary or something like that, but it’ll already be agreed. So, you know, if those figures are reported that he is on around £8m, and we have to take that with a pinch of salt, then you might suggest that, you know, a sacking would cost in the region of £8m, something like that.
“I think he’s obviously still under pressure. Of course, they had a good result in the Champions League in midweek. But, yeah, I think it’s not often that you would get paid the full length of the contract. There’s going to be some predetermined deals in there, and that’s standard for a lot of these contracts nowadays.”
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However, with a horror run of fixtures on the horizon – Tottenham play Man City (H), Man Utd (A), Newcastle (H) and Arsenal (H) in their next four – the situation could get worse before it gets better at Spurs, and fears are mounting they could yet get sucked into the relegation battle.
The improved form of Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Leeds, the latter who play at Everton on Monday night, has seen that gap between Spurs and the bottom three close to just eight points.
In light of that, it’s been speculated that former Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has made clear his willingness to take charge of Spurs in the here and now and try to help resurrect the club’s flagging fortunes.
Having also been linked with Manchester United, Xavi appears ready to try his luck in the Premier League next, and he does have that sense about him that he’s the next big overseas coach ready to move to England.
Speaking to Football Insider, transfer journalist Pete O’Rourke certainly feels Xavi is a move that ticks plenty of boxes.
“For Tottenham, let’s wait and see what they decide to do with Thomas Frank,” he said.
“Maybe he could turn things around there and keep his job, if not, I’m sure there’ll be a number of managers that they will look at, obviously Premier League-based and elsewhere as well.
“Xavi being a free agent makes him an interesting option for both (Man Utd and Spurs), but I don’t think he’s probably top of the list for either club if they do look to bring in new managers.”
He added: “I’m sure Xavi himself would be interested in the chance to maybe move to the Premier League and either join Manchester United or Tottenham.”
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Meanwhile, Liverpool have informed Spurs they have no wish to go through with the sale of Andy Robertson following talks over a £5m package, with the two people responsible for keeping the Scot at Anfield coming to light and with the player’s thoughts on the transfer collapse also emerging.
Elsewhere, Tottenham are in the mix to sign the best goalkeeper in Serie A, and his asking price would make him the third most expensive stopper of all time, according to a report.
Spurs are also reportedly targeting a move for the Napoli star to help fix the defensive lapses that have been plaguing Frank’s side during their woeful run of form in the Premier League.