Roberto De Zerbi stance on Tottenham job revealed after Thomas Frank sacking

Roberto De Zerbi would be ‘open’ to the possibility of replacing Thomas Frank at Tottenham after the Dane’s sacking, according to reports.

Frank was relieved from his duties on Wednesday morning after a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday made it eight without a win in the Premier League.

Spurs’ miserable run of form has also seen them slide into a relegation battle, with the north London side sitting only five points above the bottom three after West Ham’s draw with Manchester United.

And while Frank had to deal with a slew of injuries that has left his squad decimated in recent weeks, Tottenham have now decided to sack the former Brentford boss and begin the search for his replacement.

With no FA Cup action at the weekend, Spurs have a 12-day break to install a replacement before their next fixture in the league against arch-rivals Arsenal.

Early reports suggest that the club may look to follow in United’s footsteeps and appoint an interim boss until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent hire in the summer.

Regardless, the bookmakers have a clear early favourite in the form of ex-Brighton and Marseille boss De Zerbi.

The Italian helped Brighton qualify for the Europa League for the first time in the club’s history and guided Marseille to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 last season.

But the combustible 46-year-old has now left his post at Marseille by ‘mutual agreement’ after a heavy 5-0 loss to rivals Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.

De Zerbi’s sudden availability may pique the interest of Tottenham’s senior hierarchy, particularly given he was someone previously considered for the role prior to the appointment of Ange Postecoglou.

And talkSPORT suggests that De Zerbi would be receptive to the job, having previously held reservations about those in charge at the club.

‘I’m thinking it’s not necessarily a coincidence that Roberto De Zerbi has left Marseille overnight,’ journalist Alex Crook said on Wednesday.

‘He was someone that Spurs were keen to appoint before, bringing in even Ange Postecoglou.

‘At the time, I’m told he wasn’t necessarily up for working with Daniel Levy or Fabio Paratici, the former sporting director.

‘Both of those are no longer part of the day-to-day running of the football club, and I’m told De Zerbi would potentially be more open to taking the Tottenham job. So certainly that is going to be one to check.’

Former Spurs midfielder Danny Murphy, however, was not particularly enthused by De Zerbi’s potential appointing, telling talkSPORT: ‘He did what all managers do when they get some success is they start believing their own hype. I think De Zerbi might be a problem.

‘Right now, they’ve just got to get someone in and keep them in the league. Don’t think long-term, think short-term.’

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