Tottenham Hotspur explored poaching Marco Silva but he wanted to stay with Fulham | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur explored appointing Marco Silva as their new manager, but he wanted to stay with Fulham, according to the Sun.

They have reached an agreement to appoint Roberto De Zerbi as their new boss, but it appears they attempted to lure Silva away from their London rivals.

The Fulham manager is out of contract at the end of the season, and persuading him to leave with seven league games remaining would have been very tricky.

Spurs have gone for De Zerbi, handing him a five-year deal. He will be one of the highest-paid bosses in the history of the club.

The 46-year-old will also be one of the highest-earning bosses in the Premier League, and an official announcement is expected in the next 24 hours.

De Zerbi knows the Premier League from his time at Brighton & Hove Albion, and the onus is on him to keep Tottenham up against all odds.

They are currently 17th in the Premier League table, just a point and a place above the relegation zone.

However, Spurs will be in the bottom three by their next game against Sunderland on Sunday if West Ham United beat Wolverhampton Wanderers two days earlier.

De Zerbi could do with a favour from Wolves as starting his reign in the drop zone is the last thing he wants.

Tottenham face Brighton, Wolves, Aston Villa, Leeds United, Chelsea and Everton afterwards and will need to pick up as many points as possible to stay up.

De Zerbi was hoping to wait until the end of the season before taking a job. However, Spurs have convinced him to succeed Igor Tudor, and he needs to hit the ground running.