Pochettino stalling on new deal makes Spurs move palpable

The rumours continue to swirl around Tim Sherwood’s Tottenham future like a toilet stuck on flush, but when it comes to who will replace him should his stint in the Spurs dugout be ended, there aren’t too many leads.

It’s widely expected that Dutch national coach Louis van Gaal will be courted once the World Cup concludes and the former Bayern Munich manager leaves his post. As such the burly Champions League winner is the market leader to take over the reigns at 4/9.

However, there is a theory that Southampton’s Mauricio Pochettino, who’s next in the betting at 4/1, is sitting on his hands over signing a new contract extension at St Mary’s with the White Hart Lane gig in his cross-hairs.

January’s departure of Saints chairman and Pochettino ally, Nicola Cortese, threw the Argentine’s future on the south coast into some serious turbulence. Although the boss decided to see out the remainder of the season, he’s so far stuck to his guns over a new deal, preferring to evaluate his standpoint in the summer.

Southampton have been a revelation under Pochettino since he replaced Nigel Adkins last season, and are set for a top-half finish in his first full season in charge.

With Spurs battling for a top-six finish and a place in the Europa League next season, a goal they are 4/5 to achieve, Pochettino may wish to jump ship and test himself at a higher level rather than trying to build towards that outcome with Southampton.

Franco Baldini’s presence as Tottenham’s Technical Director is thought to hinder any potential deal to bring the high-press-loving boss to north London, but after many of the Italian’s summer deals have failed to impress since arriving, Daniel Levy could see it as the perfect time to part ways with the former England assistant as well as Sherwood.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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