Tottenham lifeline for Igor Tudor after Liverpool draw as De Zerbi makes quick decision on job

Roberto De Zerbi will not return to management before the end of the season, TEAMtalk understands, effectively ruling out the possibility of him taking charge of Tottenham Hotspur in the coming weeks – and what that will mean for Igor Tudor, who believes he has finally seen something from his players on Sunday, has now come to light.

It’s been a woeful few weeks for Tottenham and their fans, who have lost six successive times to record the worst run of form in their 143-year history and slip within a point of the relegation zone.

With four of those losses coming under the interim control of Tudor, the Croat had found his own future coming up for serious debate, a little less than a month after his arrival.

And while TEAMtalk revealed last week that serious talks had been held over the direction the club is headed, we explained how the Spurs board were prepared to give the 47-year-old a little longer to prove himself , and by way of sticking with their plan to hold off on a permanent successor to Thomas Frank until the summer.

Now, in the wake of Sunday’s deserved 1-1 draw at Liverpool, the result and performance is likely to have bought Tudor more time in charge as the club continues to assess the situation, with Spurs still planning for the future and weighing up potential successors to Frank.

De Zerbi is one of a number of coaches who have long been admired by Tottenham’s hierarchy, and sources have confirmed that he was also approached earlier this year about the possibility of stepping in as interim boss before the club eventually turned to Tudor.

Even more recently, Tottenham have checked on De Zerbi’s situation again this month as uncertainty continues to surround Tudor’s position heading into the closing stages of the campaign.

However, TEAMtalk can reveal that De Zerbi , who left Marseille last month, has made it clear he will not take up a managerial role anywhere before the end of the current season.

The highly-rated tactician is understood to be keen to carefully consider his next move rather than step into a short-term role midway through a campaign – and what that means for Tudor has also now come to light…

That stance means any club hoping to appoint De Zerbi, including Tottenham, would need to wait until the summer if they want to secure his services. Manchester United have also continued to be linked with the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss.

Tottenham continue to assess their managerial options while monitoring Tudor’s progress, but De Zerbi remains one of the names under serious consideration as the north London club look ahead to the next phase of their project.

Spurs, who face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League tie this midweek before coming up against fellow relegation contenders Nottingham Forest next weekend in a massive six-pointer, are continuing to assess the situation surrounding Tudor.

In the meantime, Tudor hopes the point earned at Anfield, courtesy of Richarlison’s 90th-minute leveller, will be the start of an upturn in fortunes for his side.

“Yeah, yeah, we hope, you know,” he said in quotes carried by Football London . “It’s a long way to our goal, which is to stay in the Premier League ; there are still a lot of games to play, but today was important to show what they showed today, independently of the result.

“As I said, when you are honest, you need to be honest, give everything, then the football will give you back.

“That was my words before the game, so this happened today. As I said, it was not easy, and now we need to see now what to do in these two games in front of us, to see who is able to play, who is not able to play, who is injured, who is not injured, so it’s not easy.

“We continue to have problems from that point of view, the numbers, but that’s why this result is even more important.”

Another manager linked with the Spurs job is former striker Robbie Keane. And if you missed it, TEAMtalk looked into the three-way battle to secure the appointment of the Irishman , as he waits on a possible call over the Tottenham Hotspur job.

Despite persistent links to Keane, Wayne Rooney has advised the Irishman to think twice about becoming the next Spurs manager and has suggested who he thinks would be a perfect option to galvanise the club and ensure they don’t suffer the dreaded drop.

Meanwhile, another Tottenham cornerstone has been linked with the exit door this summer, with Manchester City reportedly ready to take advantage of their struggles this season by swooping for one of their key stars in the summer transfer window.

Elsewhere on the transfer front, sources have told TEAMtalk that Spurs are ready to reignite their interest in a top PSG talent , although they are not alone, and any deal would be, of course, subject to the club retaining their Premier League status.