Romano clarifies next Tottenham manager situation as ‘two key names’ emerge in update

Fabrizio Romano has revealed the latest on reports linking Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi with the Tottenham job after Thomas Frank was sacked.

Spurs made decision to part company with Frank on Wednesday after their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United on Tuesday evening.

It was their eighth match in the Premier League without a victory and 16th-placed Tottenham could be in relegation trouble unless they start winning soon.

However, it is still unclear how Tottenham will proceed in appointing their next manager with interim options on the table, as well as permanent ones.

Former Brighton boss De Zerbi, who recently lost his job at Marseille, and ex-Tottenham head coach Pochettino are two of the front-runners with the bookmakers – but the those two potential appointments seem to be more likely in the summer.

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “The Tottenham job is now available following the dismissal of Thomas Frank, and there are two key names to clarify.

READ: Tottenham next manager: Shock new favourite emerges as De Zerbi hopes fade

“Roberto De Zerbi is highly appreciated internally and would be open to returning to Premier League football.

“However, De Zerbi is not a coach who rushes into decisions. He wants clarity on the project, long-term vision and structure before accepting any role.

“Tottenham’s interest is confirmed, but De Zerbi is assessing the wider market as more positions could open up across Europe between now and the summer.

“Regarding Mauricio Pochettino, the current position is complicated because the US Federation do not want to lose him only months before the World Cup.

“A summer appointment could only become realistic depending on Tottenham’s strategy, especially if they choose an interim solution until after the tournament.”

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Ange Postecoglou was the Tottenham head coach last season before Frank took over in the summer and the Australian claims Spurs are “not a big club”.

Postecoglou said on The Overlap: “You know, when you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is ‘To dare is to do’. It’s everywhere. And yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that. It’s really curious in terms of understanding what they’re trying to build. What are they?

“There’s obviously been huge investment – they’ve built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities. But when you look at the expenditure, particularly the wage structure, they’re not a big club. I saw that first-hand because when we were trying to sign players, we weren’t in the market for those players.

“They’re not a big club in terms of the wages they pay. The transfer fees might not be the biggest in the league, but they’re always there or thereabouts. However, there’s a cap on wages that won’t be broken.”

Postecoglou, who won the Europa League in his final game at the club, continued: “At the end of my first year, when we finished fifth, for me it was: OK, how do you go from fifth to really challenging? Well, we had to sign Premier League-ready players.

“But finishing fifth that year didn’t get us into the Champions League, so we didn’t have the money. We ended up signing Dom Solanke, who I was absolutely keen on – I really like him – and three teenagers.

“At the time, I was looking at Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo and Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guehi as well, because I said if we’re going to go from fifth to there, that’s what the other big clubs would do in that moment.”