Courtesy: Reuters/Indian Express/TheTotallyFotballShow
Jurgen Klinsmann has expressed interest in the Tottenham Hotspur manager job and has revealed that he even contacted club chairman Daniel Levy after the sacking of Jose Mourinho. The 56-year old, was a World Cup winner as a player with West Germany and played two times for Tottenham in the 1990s.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been engaged in a prolonged search for a new manager with current Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino being reconsidered for a second stint at the club. Pochettino and PSG however rejected Spurs’ advances. Former Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte was also considered but Conte pulled out over disagreements on squad funds. Juventus Director of Football Fabio Paratici who previously worked with Conte at Juventus was appointed as Director at Spurs in an attempt to lure him to London but this attempt failed. Paratici has since then been involved in the process to appoint a manager and former AS Roma manager Paulo Fonseca was rumoured to be his first target. However, talks with Fonseca broke down as Gattuso was reported as being available. Gattuso was considered the frontrunner for the Tottenham Hotspur managerial job but according to reports from England, the north London club has decided against appointing him as manager.
Klinsmann, who appeared on the BBC as a pundit during Euro 2020, was asked by presenter Gary Lineker, another former Spurs player if he would be interested in the job.
“I called him after he let Mourinho go and said, ‘Hey what’s the case now?’ He said, ‘I have so much to do right now, to sort things out at the club, let’s talk a bit later on,” said Klinsmann.
Asked directly by Lineker if he would be interested in the job, Klinsmann said: “Absolutely”.
Klinsmann has previously led Germany to the semi-finals of the World Cup after which he managed his former side Bayern Munich for a season. He later managed the United States national team and guided them to the knockout stages of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but was ultimately sacked in 2016. He also had an ill-fated ten-week spell in charge of Hertha Berlin.