Tottenham no closer to ending managerial search with Postecoglou, Enrique and Amorim all in running

Tottenham’s search for managers will resume after Sunday’s clash with Leeds, with Ange Postecoglou, Luis Enrique and Ruben Amorim now in the spotlight.

After the failure to agree a severance payment with Feyenoord for Arne Slot – the Spurs thought it would be £5m, Feyenoord wanted £17m – there is no immediate end in sight. list.

Presumably the number 1 choice, Xabi Alonso had ruled himself out and Postecoglou could well sign another year at Celtic, although there is no expensive exit clause as he has a one-year contract. Still, his ultimate ambition is to see Celtic in a knockout stage of the Champions League and the team has largely been recruited by him. It is assumed that he wants to fulfill that ambition next season.

If Enrique was the candidate Levy was looking for, Spurs could have named him within days of Antonio Conte’s departure. He would come with triple winning credentials from Barcelona. But Spurs don’t seem to be in a hurry to appoint him.

Luis Enrique (left) and Ruben Amorim (right) are the other two names in the spotlight

The Spurs have already been rejected by their top target, Feyenoord manager Arne Slot

Indeed, several agents across Europe representing coaches who are expected to be interviewed have had initial contact, but no follow-up interviews. Julian Nagelsmann would have been left in the dark, unsure whether Spurs wanted him or not.

Candidates that could gain momentum next week are Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi. The latter seems unlikely given Brighton’s excellent current relationship with Tony Bloom and the prospect of Europa League football at Brighton. But he fits everything Levy wants at the club.

Potter too, despite his stormy eight months at Chelsea. He is certainly more of a co-worker than a fighter of the chairman. Among those who have studied his career at length, his reputation as one of the best coaches remains, even if Chelsea has inevitably tarnished it for now. His unique form of common sense may be just what the madhouse needs.

It means Tottenham go into Sunday’s game at Leeds with far more questions than answers, not least of which is whether this will be Harry Kane’s last game for the club. The smart money is that he’ll be out of contract and host a mega move for free next summer, with all the £100m transfer fee saved being funneled into his wages.

Manchester United and Real Madrid will probably inform early next week. When business needs to be done, they want it done quickly, which is not Tottenham’s way.

It’s hard to remember now, but it’s only been ten months since the season got off to an optimistic start. For those who insist Levy and owner Joe Lewis are more interested in winning than plaudits, it should be pointed out that they injected £150 million of equity into the club last summer at Conte’s urging.

Richarlison arrived for £52 million, Yves Bissouma for £26 million and Djed Spence for £13 million. Where Spurs once hesitated to sign players with no resale value, came Ivan Perisic, apparently a ready-made top-four player with high wages. They converted loan deals from Cristian Romero and Djean Kulsevski into permanent transfers.

Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi could pace as an option in the coming week

As is Graham Potter, who has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in April

“One thing I will say is he [Levy] spent money,” said interim coach Ryan Mason Friday. ‘He tried. I just think he was probably abandoned by other people in the end. But that’s football. That is happening and hopefully we can make amends soon, make good decisions and turn things around.”

Mason has attempted to steer the ship into port through the inclement weather, with limited success following the departure of the Conte in March and the abandonment of his No.2 Cristian Stellini in April.

“We haven’t won an away game since January and conceded more than 60 goals [it’s 62] this season?’ said Mason. “So this is not something that has happened in recent weeks. It is clear that we remained in a position in the ranking [when Conte left] that’s probably incorrect, in terms of other teams holding matches. If you tie them up, I think we could have been seventh. So there are a lot of things that probably weren’t true.’

That’s true, but Spurs were still fourth as Conte departed and were on their way to another Champions League finish, even though Newcastle, Liverpool and Brighton still controlled those games. They had lost nine Premier League games, although it was the disheartening cup exit that so sapped morale. Spurs have since lost five in nine Premier League games.

Before Conte left, they conceded 40 goals or 1.43 per game. Since then they have conceded 22 or 2.44 goals per game. Life had become toxic with Conte and the football was unbearable at times. But it’s still hard to believe, as bad as it got, he would have let that happen while on duty.