Nuno Espirito Santo ‘could become one of the candidates’ for the managerial vacancy at Tottenham Hotspur, according to football.london journalist Alasdair Gold.

The lowdown

Spurs have been without a permanent manager since sacking Jose Mourinho before the Carabao Cup final in April.

Paulo Fonseca was expecting to become the club’s new boss before they pulled the plug on talks with the 48-year-old (via BBC Sport). A move for Gennaro Gattuso following the swift end to his tenure at Fiorentina was also abandoned amid a backlash from numerous supporters.

Nuno is lining up his next challenge after leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers at the end of the season. The 47-year-old led them back into to the Premier League in 2018, since when they have secured back-to-back seventh-place finishes before slipping to 13th this year (Transfermarkt).

The latest

Gold said: “I keep getting told, and again today, from those in Italy that know Paratici, that he likes Nuno Espirito Santo and not to rule out that he could become one of the candidates.”

However, the ‘Jorge Mendes factor’ could prove to be a problem. Paratici is said to have ‘a good relationship with Nuno’s agent’, but Spurs may be reluctant to be saddled with a number of Mendes’ clients.

Gold added: “I understand that he [Mendes] and Paratici have a good relationship but there is always going to be that fear that Spurs will end up having to take on a number of his players. Italian media claimed Fiorentina and Gattuso parted ways because of exactly that.”

The verdict

Guiding Wolves to consecutive top-seven finishes on the back of promotion was some achievement from Nuno, and we shouldn’t be too quick to forget it. Yes, last season was tricky as they slumped to 13th, but in many ways it underlined the importance of injured striker Raul Jimenez to the functioning of the team, who badly missed the influence of their top scorer from the previous two campaigns.

However, Nuno wouldn’t seem a particularly exciting appointment for Tottenham. He deployed a counter-attacking system to great effect at Molineux, but adopting that style at a club like Spurs with loftier ambitions can frustrate the fanbase all too easily. Also, Levy is on record as saying that he wants a manager who will play expansive football, which may conflict with Nuno’s usual style.

In other news, Gold also dropped this intriguing claim about another candidate.