According to Corriere della Sera, Tottenham have made contact with Gian Piero Gasperini in the last 24 hours, but the signs aren’t good.
The Italian news outlet claim that the 63-year-old would only be willing to leave Atalanta for Juventus.
Corriere della Sera add that Gasperini doesn’t speak very good English, which they describe as an almost insurmountable barrier to his chances of replacing José Mourinho.
Nevertheless, this is just the type of manager Daniel Levy should be looking for.
Gasperini has taken Atalanta from a relegation threatened side, to a team competing in the latter stages of the Champions League.
The Italian led Atalanta to a win over Liverpool at Anfield back in November to progress into the Last 16.
Sadly, Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid knocked them out.
In our view, the way Atalanta play under Gasperini is incredibly entertaining.
He adopts a 3-4-1-2 formation that yields plenty of goalscoring chances.
Throughout his managerial career, Gasperini’s sides have scored 1,061 goals in 669 games, as Transfermarkt shows.
He has averaged 1.58 points per game during this time, winning 298 of his 669 games.
Sadly, it seems highly unlikely that Gasperini will end up in north London.
However, this is much more encouraging that lazily exploring options on Levy’s doorstep, such as Gareth Southgate and Nuno Espirito Santo.
There are plenty of excellent managers dotted around Europe – they just have to be found.
Look at Southampton, who made a bold choice in sacking Nigel Adkins for Mauricio Pochettino, who is now among Europe’s best coaches.
It’s time for Levy to be just as bold, and find a quality, long-term option for Tottenham.
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