Why bookies are bonkers for making Pochettino favourite to replace Postecoglou at Tottenham when ‘natural fit’ a far easier deal

THE bookies seem convinced.

It will be Ange out this summer. And Poch back in.

Yet while a return to N17 for Mauricio Pochettino at some point in time does have a feeling of inevitability, it is probably NOT now.

The Argentine, sacked in 2019, just months after leading Spurs to the Champions League Final, has spoken of “unfinished business” at the club.

There is, within the Argentine, seemingly a desire to come back – and this time to land the silverware that so narrowly eluded him during his five years at the helm.

He loves London, with a passion. Still, despite his season at Chelsea, loves Tottenham Hotspur.

And there have been times over the past six years when you could see him rocking up back at Hotspur Way if the offer had come.

But Poch is not going to walk out on his £4.5m per year job with the United States now, not with only 13 months to go before the Stars and Stripes are draped all over the World Cup Finals.

Whether or not Daniel Levy wants to reopen the door – some might argue spin the revolving door given that Ange Postecoglou’s departure will spend the end of the fourth permanent reign since Pochettino was fired – the logistics are against it taking place.

Levy and Spurs cannot afford a repeat of the 2021 debacle that ended with Nuno Espirito Santos appointed after all the other preferred candidates turned the club down.

If and when – and it’s surely a when – Ange gets the boot, there HAS to be a near-instant replacement announced.

That’s despite the Aussie setting up a Europa League final against Manchester United that guarantees the winner a place in next season’s Champions League.

It is suggested that Pochettino’s US deal has a £20m set of golden handcuffs attached.

That’s simply too great a price for Spurs to pay, especially if they have no European football to plug the financial gap next term.

Poch has been criticised for the lack of development of his side, humiliated into fourth place in March’s Nations League Finals when they lost to both Panama and Canada.

But US Soccer have invested too much in him to even consider a change of jockey before the Concacaf Gold Cup they are hosting in the summer.

Drawn alongside Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and guest side Saudi Arabia, it is almost inconceivable that the US will not at least make the last eight, played at the end of June, just days before Spurs will be due back for the start of pre-season training.

Even if the US blow up again, Levy and Tottenham cannot wait that long to have a manager in place.

So where might a punter look to have a dip in the market?

Levy and his boardroom colleagues will have had their own thoughts – and have unsurprisingly kept them private.

But it does seem that Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola has fallen down the list of potential runners and riders – his style and approach is perhaps too similar to the Postecoglou model.

Fulham’s Marco Silva and Thomas Frank at Brentford are two genuine contenders already in the capital, while former Dortmund boss Edin Terzic now has a London-based agent looking out for his interests.

There was a market plunge for Xavi Hernandez a few weeks ago, too. That would be an ambitious move, for sure. But a risky one.

Perhaps, then, the man who will be heading to the away dug-out and dressing room on Sunday might be emerging as the best bet for the home versions next term.

Oliver Glasner made an instant impact when he replaced Roy Hodgson in 2024 and has bounced back from a rocky start to this season – when his side struggled to cope with the absence of Michael Olise and injuries hampering Eberezi Eze and Adam Wharton – to lead the Eagles to the FA Cup Final.

Austrian Glasner’s preferred back three system might seem a natural fit for a club whose full-backs are all natural wing-backs while he has also tasted European success guiding Frankfurt to the Europa League in 2022.

Would Glasner swap Selhurst for Tottenham High Road? You would think so.

Despite the shape of the Prem table, few would deny it is a step up.

And it would be a far easier deal for Spurs than trying to prise Poch out of the US. Sometimes you have to remember football is the art of the possible.