Report: 50-year-old flattered by Spurs interest and open to the role – on one condition

Add as preferred source on Google

Reported Tottenham Hotspur managerial target Gareth Southgate is “flattered” by Spurs’ interest in him, according to the Evening Standard.

Tottenham are currently on the lookout for a new permanent manager after sacking Jose Mourinho last week.

Ryan Mason has taken the reins until the end of the season while Daniel Levy sets about looking for Mourinho’s replacement.

Already two prime candidates have committed their futures elsewhere – Julian Nagelsmann is joining Bayern Munich, while Erik ten Hag has signed a new deal at Ajax.

Meanwhile, Brendan Rodgers is reportedly not interested, with The Sun claiming Spurs have decided to look elsewhere amid a potential £70million outlay in wages and compensation.

Southgate has managed England since 2016 and penned a new four-year contract after the 2018 World Cup which will take him to the 2022 finals in Qatar.

The Evening Standard claims that, while the 50-year-old is open to the idea of managing Spurs, he wouldn’t walk away from the Three Lions role for a club job.

He would only consider the role in the event that he is sacked by the FA following a disappointing Euro 2020 tournament, added the outlet.

TBR View:

Spurs’ search for a new permanent manager hasn’t been smooth sailing so far, with two top candidates officially committing themselves to other clubs and a third reportedly uninterested and too expensive.

Southgate did well with England in 2018 and will hope to go further in the next two tournaments given how many top players are currently in the Three Lions ranks – if he does succeed in winning a major international trophy, he’ll go down in the history books.

However, Southgate has only had one job at club level – at Middlesbrough, and that was over a decade ago – so it remains to be seen whether he’d be able to hit the ground running for a club – and all the day-to-day work it entails – after so many years out.