Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has made a popular new manager their top target to replace Ange Postecoglou after advice from ex-managing director Fabio Paratici, according to reports this week.
Tottenham dealt injury blows ahead of Europa League final
Spurs take on Aston Villa in the Premier League this afternoon, but with nothing to play for domestically, all eyes are fixed on their looming Europa League final against Man United in Bilbao on May 21.
Their clash against the Villans serves as a warm-up game for Postecoglou's side, but the under-fire Australian will be praying his squad suffer no more serious injuries, with Lucas Bergvall, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison all set to miss their trip to Spain next week with long-term problems.
Kulusevski became the latest star player to be ruled out of their crunch clash with United after news emerged of his knee surgery earlier this week, and it is a hammer blow for Postecoglou, who's looking to both end Tottenham's 17-year wait for a major trophy and qualify for the Champions League at the end of an all-important 90 minutes next Wednesday.
"Look, I guess because it’s been a constant with us during the year, we’ve kind of become almost accustomed to it," said Postecoglou on Tottenham's recent injury blows.
"It would probably be a bigger issue if we had a smooth run all year and got hit with injuries now and deal with missing key players, but we’ve pretty much been without key players all season. There hasn’t been a time where we had a three or four-week spell with our strongest line-up, so the boys are getting on with it.
"They’re disappointed for the people involved and Deki being the latest one because he had a fantastic first part of the year for us and was just working his way back into it. At the same time as I keep saying to the group all along, you can’t pick and choose when these opportunities come along."
Even if Postecoglou defies the odds and beats United with a weakened midfield, reports suggest the 59-year-old could still part company with Tottenham at the end of the season (David Ornstein).
Ajax boss Francesco Farioli now "top" Tottenham manager target
Levy has been linked with a host of coaches to replace him.
Presenter Richard Keys recently claimed Tottenham held talks with ex-Barcelona boss Xavi last week, with the Spaniard joining Spurs' long list of rumoured managerial candidates, which reportedly includes the likes of Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth), Marco Silva (Fulham), Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace), Thomas Frank (Brentford), Scott Parker (Burnley), Jürgen Klopp (Head of Global, Red Bull), Niko Kovač (Borussia Dortmund) and Edin Terzić (free agent).
Now, TEAMtalk and journalist Rudy Galetti have information that Ajax boss Francesco Farioli is now firmly on their radar as well, and Spurs are serious about potentially hiring him.
Galetti reports that Farioli has shot to the "top" of Tottenham's managerial target list, after Paratici privately recommended the tactician to Levy, which comes as an intriguing update considering Ajax have just blown a nine-point lead at the top of the Eredivisie table in four games.
The Dutch giants are in real danger of letting the title slip through their fingers in capitulating fashion, so is he really the right man to bring success to N17?
Well, TEAMtalk go on to claim that Farioli is very highly talked about within Premier League circles, so English sides appear to rate the popular young 36-year-old behind-the-scenes. His contract also includes an "affordable" £4.2 million release clause.