Luis Enrique’s announcement that he’s quitting Barcelona at the end of the season is bound to put Tottenham fans on edge.
Of course, Mauricio Pochettino is just one of the names being thrown around as a potential successor to the Spaniard. In fact, he’s not even the only Premier League manager who’s being mentioned, as Everton’s Ronald Koeman and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger are also possible candidates.
Pochettino only signed a new deal last summer, so Daniel Levy is likely to put the highly-rated Argentine out of Barca’s price range, especially as there is no buy-out clause in his contract.
However, until Barca actually have a new man in the hotseat, Spurs fans won’t be able to rest easy.
Would Poch be a good fit?
It’s hard to imagine Barca opting for someone hasn’t won anything as a coach, though that could change with Spurs still in the FA Cup. He’s also Spanish-speaking and is renowned for having his teams play attractive football, which would suit the Blaugrana down to a tee.
Spaletti at Spurs?
La Gazzetta dello Sport have pounced on this rumour, suggesting that Spurs have already identified Roma’s Luciano Spalletti as a replacement if Pochettino does go.
The Italian enjoyed surprise success with Udinese and has done reasonably well with Roma, though he hasn’t been able to do much about Juventus’ continued dominance of Serie A.
Spalletti would be a good fit in the Premier League, as he’s tactically versatile and usually seems to have a Plan B. He came under fire towards the start of his second stint at Roma for dropping the untouchable Francesco Totti, but he’s astute at managing such big personalities.
The ideal scenario for Spurs is that it shouldn’t come to this, but it may all depend on whether Barcelona come calling.
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