Porro starts, no room for £60m Richarlison: How Tottenham XI could look under Luis Enrique

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Luis Enrique has been in the headlines as Tottenham consider replacing Antonio Conte with the Spaniard in N17.

The Athletic believe the 52-year-old is a leading contender to take the Italian’s job at Spurs, with Daniel Levy searching for alternatives after Wednesday’s Champions League exit at the Round of 16 stage.

If Enrique does end up taking the reins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, here’s how we think his starting XI could look…

How Tottenham could look under Luis Enrique

Well, it would be a vastly different system to the one currently used by Conte.

Enrique prefers to use a 4-3-3 formation with one holding midfielder and two in the No.8 role who look to attack.

For example, his final starting XI for Spain before leaving after the World Cup Round of 16 defeat to Morocco saw the Spaniard name Sergio Busquets as his deepest midfielder, flanked by Gavi and Pedri.

In our view, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg would be used in the Busquets role if Enrique replaces Conte, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma either side of the Denmark international.

At the back, we would expect Enrique to choose his fellow countryman Pedro Porro on the right ahead of Emerson Royal. The £39m man was actually given his debut for Spain by the Gijón-born tactician.

We would also expect Spurs to sign a new central defender or two given the problems in that area – transfer target Marc Guéhi was included in a recent potential XI on HITC Football if Mauricio Pochettino returns.

For now – however – we shall focus on those already at Tottenham, so we presume a pairing of Cristian Romero and Eric Dier will be chosen, with a lifeline given to another Spaniard in Sergio Reguilon.

The left-back is currently on loan at Atlético Madrid, where he is struggling, although Enrique seems to like him after handing the defender six caps for Spain.

In attack, there would only be three positions up for grabs if Enrique adopts his preferred 4-3-3.

In truth, they pretty much fill themselves. Heung-min Son on the left, Harry Kane in the centre, and Dejan Kulusevski on the right, meaning there is no room for the £60m Richarlison.

Be sure to keep an eye on this situation, as The Athletic – a very reliable source – seem to think Enrique is high on Tottenham’s shortlist of possible Conte replacements.