Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly out of the running to become the Lilywhites' next permanent head coach.
The North London club are on the lookout for a long-term replacement for Antonio Conte, who departed by mutual consent during the international break.
Conte's former assistant Cristian Stellini was promoted to acting head coach in the wake of the Italian's exit, and he will likely see out the rest of the season in the hotseat as Daniel Levy draws up a list of candidates.
Pochettino oversaw a hugely positive transformation at Tottenham during his five years in charge, and the Argentine quickly emerged as one of the leading choices to succeed Conte in the English capital.
Pochettino has been out of management since being sacked by Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season, but according to the Daily Star, Spurs have now told him to forget about a fairytale return.
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The report states that Pochettino and Tottenham did hold brief talks after Conte's sacking, and he indicated that he would be open to taking the reins for a second time.
However, Tottenham chairman Levy is said to be after a complete fresh start, even with a portion of Spurs players and staff supposedly begging Pochettino to come back.
The 51-year-old failed to win a trophy with Tottenham, but he guided them to the 2018-19 Champions League final before being given the boot six months later due to a downturn in results.
Pochettino apparently hoped that his previous exploits in North London would work in his favour during their managerial search, but Spurs are instead prioritising talks with other targets.
Pochettino left Spurs with a record of 160 wins, 60 draws and 73 defeats from 293 games in charge, and he is also understood to be on the radar of Real Madrid if Carlo Ancelotti departs at the end of the season.
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Conte was expected to leave Tottenham at the end of the season when his contract expired, but the Italian's exit was accelerated in the wake of an astonishing press conference at Southampton.
After Spurs were pegged back to draw 3-3 from being 3-1 up, Conte blasted his "selfish" team and pointed out the club's 15-year trophy drought under Joe Lewis and Levy, and his exit was confirmed last Sunday evening.
Conte and Tottenham parted ways only a few days after Julian Nagelsmann was given the boot by Bayern Munich, and the German is thought to be Spurs' number one managerial target.
The likes of Porto's Sergio Conceicao, Celtic's Ange Postecoglou, Eintracht Frankfurt's Oliver Glasner, Burnley's Vincent Kompany and Brentford's Thomas Frank have also been named as potential candidates to take over at Tottenham, who have already played under Stellini five times this season - winning four of them.
The 48-year-old's first game as acting head coach comes away to Everton on Monday evening.
Ben Knapton
