Tottenham switch manager hunt to Bundesliga but Man Utd battle brews for ‘coach in demand’ | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly switched their focus to Germany when it comes to the appointment of their next permanent manager, although they will have a potential Manchester United battle on their hands come the summer.

Igor Tudor will lead struggling Spurs out again as interim boss when they face Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday, having made a woeful start to his short-term tenure with the derby thrashing by Arsenal.

While all the focus at the moment is about pulling away from the relegation zone, despite the fact that a Champions League last-16 clash with Atletico Madrid is just around the corner, there remains plenty of noise over who will take over from Tudor when his stint ends.

As we’ve previously reported, current USA boss Mauricio Pochettino remains the favourite for the role, although Tottenham retain significant interest in Roberto De Zerbi and Bournemouth chief Andoni Iraola, while club legend Robbie Keane is more of an outside bet at this stage.

But it’s now being reported by German publication Bild that the north London outfit could replace one Croatian with another, with Tudor departing and Borussia Dortmund boss Niko Kovac now attracting ‘strong interest from a number of clubs – including Spurs.

It is revealed that Tottenham, Man Utd and Chelsea are all on the 54-year-old’s trail, and have all made contact with the former Bayern Munich boss, despite the latter only recently appointing Liam Rosenior on a contract until 2032.

TEAMtalk insider Rudy Galetti actually revealed back in January that Kovac is very much in United’s thinking, although Spurs can now be added into that mix.

Kovac is described as a ‘coach in demand’ in England ahead of the summer, with Bild adding that the 54-year-old also sees himself coaching in the Premier League.

UCL exit damaging for Dortmund, Kovac

The reports also states that Kovac is currently under pressure at Dortmund after they crashed out of the Champions League with a play-off loss to Italian outfit Atalanta.

Missing out on the last 16 means a significant financial blow to the club that will likely, in turn, make it harder to tie down some of their top stars to new contracts.

However, despite that pressure on Kovac, it’s still reported that Dortmund are keen to keep Kovac until his contract runs out at the end of the 2026/27 season.

As for the Tottenham fit, Kovac demands high-intensity, physically dominant football that also focuses on defensive discipline. His teams typically utilise a 4-2-3-1, which is similar to what Spurs used under Ange Postecoglou and Thomas Frank.

Tottenham fans will probably be sceptical, though, given that a Frank-led side comfortably beat Dortmund in the Champions League in January, although the German outfit did have a player sent-off in the first half of the game.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven wants to join Real Madrid in the summer transfer window, according to a Spanish report, as TEAMtalk brings the latest on the situation of the Dutch star.

Elsewhere, Amanda Staveley and her husband, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, are understood to have the funding in place – believed to be more than £3 billion – to buy Tottenham, sources have confirmed to us, although a major issue still exists when it comes to any takeover.