Tottenham eyeing 41-year-old manager after snubbing Julian Nagelsmann – report

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A major Tottenham Hotspur manager update began doing the rounds on Friday evening.

According to multiple sources, Julian Nagelsmann is not in contention for the Spurs role.

Dan Kilpatrick of the Evening Standard and football.london’s Alasdair Gold were among the first to break the news.

Other outlets, including Sky Sports, also began covering the update involving Nagelsmann.

Going by the Sky Sports article, Spurs apparently ‘did not meet him and no meeting is scheduled to take place.’

Tottenham senior figures respect Nagelsmann, but ‘he is not one for them at this moment in time’, added the report.

With that in mind, Sky Sports mentioned one name that the Spurs hierarchy is reportedly still looking at – Xabi Alonso.

‘Sky Sports News understands key figures at Spurs admire the former Liverpool midfielder,’ they wrote.

Rising star

Links between Tottenham and Alonso are fairly new, but they appear to have legs.

De Telegraaf recently reported that the 41-year-old had become Daniel Levy’s new frontrunner for the Spurs hotseat.

In wake of the Nagelsmann bombshell, the likelihood is speculation linking Tottenham and Alonso could intensify.

Although Alonso is a relative newcomer to the managerial scene, he has hit the ground running.

He took over at Bayer Leverkusen earlier this season when they were 17th in the Bundesliga table.

Alonso has since transformed their fortunes, taking them up to sixth in the German top flight.

Leverkusen are also in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals, though they’re trailing 1-0 to Roma after the first leg.

‘I’m proud’

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is just one of many peers who have sung Alonso’s praises.

In 2016, Arteta and Alonso spoke on the Arsenal YouTube channel about their friendship.

“I follow him very closely, because we have kept in touch forever,” Alonso said, as transcribed by football.london.

“When he moved from Everton to Arsenal, I wanted to know how it works there in Arsenal, and he’s enjoying it so far.”

Arteta also spoke of his admiration for Alonso, who enjoyed an outstanding and trophy-laden career as a player.

He said: “I’m proud that he’s coming from the same city, and he’s taken that name as well when he’s been at Liverpool or Real Madrid or Bayern Munich because he’s been successful everywhere.”