Report: Tottenham to target Nagelsmann if Jose Mourinho fired

By all accounts Jose Mourinho has until the end of the season to turn Tottenham Hotspur’s season around and potentially save his job. But if he can’t, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy will look to Germany and Julian Nagelsmann as Tottenham’s next boss, according to Matt Law in the Telegraph (£).

Law states that Levy isn’t keen on giving Mourinho the boot before the end of the season for a variety of reasons — mostly financial, but also because he believes Jose should be given the opportunity to win the Carabao Cup and Europa League. Nagelsmann is in his second season at RB Leipzig and is doing well, and isn’t prepared to leave in the middle of the year, but wants to manage in England and could be tempted by the Tottenham job, should it come available.

The next two weeks could prove pivotal for Mourinho’s future — Spurs have the Europa League tie with Wolfsberg well in hand, but face four important league matches against Burnley, Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Arsenal. Law writes that anything less than three wins ahead of the North London Derby could be a “huge blow” to Mourinho’s job prospects.

Of managers that would be potentially available this summer and also interested in Tottenham Hotspur, Nagelsmann would be really, really high on my personal list of candidates. He’s had success everywhere he’s managed in his short career, is a young and dynamic up and coming manager, and plays an exciting brand of progressive, high intensity football. The Telegraph article quotes Nagelsmann speaking on his philosophy of football last week:

“Winning is what matters and winning is entertaining. I never want to change my offensive and attacking football because I love it and I love it when the fans have an emotional time in the stadium. So I will not change this. But if there is a time when I cannot win like this, then I will have to change.”

This is very much putting the cart in front of the horse, naturally. There’s a large chunk of the season yet to come. I’m a Spurs fan. I’d like Tottenham to start playing good football and win matches, no matter who’s in charge. There’s also a pretty good chance that Nagelsmann gets swept up by a team much bigger and/or richer than Spurs are before we have a chance to land him. Who knows!

But if Tottenham’s current league slide continues and the consolation prize for finishing mid-table is Tottenham Hotspur Head Coach Julian Nagelsmann... well, I guess I could live with that outcome.