Tottenham Hotspur have started their process to appoint a new manager after the sacking of Thomas Frank on Wednesday morning, following a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle the night before.
Like Manchester United and several big clubs before them this season, sources have told ESPN that Spurs ideally want an interim coach until the end of the 2025-26 campaign before choosing a more established manager for next term. Also, there is still a season to salvage: Spurs’ tumble down the league has meant they sit in 16th place, just five points clear of the relegation zone.
There is also the matter of the Champions League knockout stages to contend with, with Spurs finishing fourth during the league phase — with five wins from eight matches — to put them directly in the Round of 16.
– Olley: Spurs job was too big for Frank, but club’s issues go deeper
But who will Spurs turn to, both immediately and in the summer? We review their options.
Mauricio Pochettino
Current job: USMNT manager
Previously managed: Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea
The stars could finally align for Pochettino to return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, five years after he first left the club. Pochettino will lead the USMNT at the 2026 World Cup they’re co-hosting this summer, but he does not have a contract beyond this summer and sources have told ESPN that he is keen on a return to club management.
For their part, Tottenham are interested in having Pochettino back. The Argentine coach delivered some of the best years in the club’s history, guiding them on a thrilling run to the 2019 Champions League final where they were defeated 2-0 by Liverpool. He also helped the club to the League Cup final in 2015. This teams, which included the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min, Mousa Dembélé, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, are still revered among the club’s fanbase.
Sources have told ESPN that Pochettino would be open to coming back to Tottenham if the right conditions are met.
Roberto Di Zerbi
Current job: Unemployed
Previously managed: Sassuolo, Shakhtar Donetsk, Brighton & Hove Albion, Marseille (among others)
The list of elite coaches available in-season is rarely long, but timing may be on Spurs’ side. Roberto De Zerbi, who has previously enjoyed some success with Brighton, left his role as Marseille manager on Tuesday.
Spurs have previously struggled to attract coaches — the club tried to hire Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola last summer before he snubbed them — but sources have told ESPN that De Zerbi is interested in the role. The Italian coach is still highly rated at Tottenham and was previously wanted by the club’s recently departed sporting director, Fabio Paratici.
Marco Silva
Current job: Fulham manager
Previously managed: Estoril, Sporting CP, Olympiacos, Hull City, Watford, Everton
Marco Silva has made Fulham a mid-table stalwart in recent seasons — this season, in which they are 12th, has been much of the same. However, his contract is due to expire this summer, and he is yet to sign an extension. He is expected to be in the frame for the Tottenham job.
“We have Marco Silva, who’s done a fantastic job coaching this team, and I love working with Marco. This squad is doing incredibly well,” Fulham vice chairman Tony Kahn told British radio station TalkSport last week.
“I have a great relationship with Marco. I love working with Marco, and I absolutely want Marco to be here for a long time. I think he will be, and I believe that.
“We’ve had a lot to do, and we’ve just had a great recent signing that we spent a lot of time on… we’re all very aligned as a club, working together. I absolutely believe the way we’re all working together and the way we all enjoy it.
Oliver Glasner
Current job: Crystal Palace manager
Previously managed: SV Josko Ried, LASK Linz, VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht Frankfurt
Oliver Glasner has overachieved at Crystal Palace — he won the FA Cup last season, qualifying for European football for the first time in the club’s history — but unlike Silva, his future is decided: He will definitely be leaving when his contract expires this summer.
Glasner has publicly (and repeatedly) expressed his frustrations with Palace’s transfer activity this season, showing his ire at the departures of Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze. The manager himself will follow them out of Selhurst Park in search of a new challenge, although his next move is not yet known.
Like Silva, Glasner will also be among the contenders for the job in north London.
Andoni Iraola
Current job: AFC Bournemouth manager
Previously managed: AEK Larnaca, Mirandés, Rayo Vallecano
The list of managers previously linked with Tottenham is long. Near the top of that list last summer was Bournemouth’s Iraola, who has been a crucial part of the south coast club’s latest promising campaign. The Spanish coach turned them down last summer, prompting Tottenham to go for Frank instead. The club would be wary of making that same mistake again.
Robbie Keane
Current job: Ferencváros manager
Previously managed: Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Manchester United are weighing up whether to hand the reins to one of their former players, and Tottenham could yet do the same. Michael Carrick made 464 appearances for Man United between 2006 and 2018 before returning to Old Trafford, first as a first-team coach and then, last month, as interim boss, winning his first four games in charge.
Tottenham will consider Robbie Keane for a spot in their dugout. The former Republic of Ireland striker enjoyed two spells at the club in which he scored 122 goals in 306 games and would be a link back to yesteryear. However, Keane is not a free agent like Carrick was: he took charge at Hungarian club Ferencváros in January 2025, and he has won 22 of his 37 games so far in all competitions, including a run to the Europa League knockout stages. However, his other managerial experience is limited to a year-long spell at Maccabi Tel-Aviv and various assistant coaching gigs at Leeds United, Middlesbrough, and Ireland.
John Heitinga
Current job: Tottenham assistant coach
Previously managed: Ajax
Heitinga arrived at Tottenham just as Frank’s descent was worsening. The Dutch coach joined Frank’s staff just three weeks ago, even as fans increasingly demanded the manager’s sacking. Heitinga could be well-placed to lead the club in an interim capacity.
He has performed in an interim capacity previously for Ajax in 2023, during which he won 14 of his 22 games. He did well enough to be handed his first full-time managerial role at the club in May 2025, but all did not go to plan. He lasted just five months and left the club at the bottom of the Champions League league phase.
Ryan Mason
Current job: Unemployed
Previously managed: Tottenham Hotspur (interim, twice) West Bromwich Albion
Could this be a case of third time’s a charm? Mason has already stepped in as Spurs interim manager on two occasions in 2021 and 2023 — the first time saw him become the youngest coach (29) in Premier League history and take over from Jose Mourinho just in time for a Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
Wouldn’t you know it: Mason is a free agent again, just as Spurs’ search for their latest temporary appointment. At 34 years old, Mason is still a young coach. He knows the club as a player, too, having graduated from the academy and spending eight years in the first-team before his career was cut short due to suffering a fractured skull in a January 2017 match against Chelsea.
His previous stints as interim boss were short-lived — he took charge of seven games the first time round, and six games the next. Since then, he has spent six months in charge at Championship side West Bromwich Albion before being let go after just 27 games.
