Tottenham refuse to give up on Brendan Rodgers with hope behind the scenes at Spurs that the Leicester boss will change his mind and quit the Foxes to take over from Jose Mourinho at White Hart Lane
- Tottenham are still hopeful they can persuade Brendan Rodgers to be next boss
- Leicester’s manager publicly ruled himself out of the role on Wednesday
- Rodgers is club’s preferred candidate after Julian Naglesmann joined Bayern
- Talks with Ajax boss Erik ten Hag lined up and he is willing to consider taking job
Tottenham are not giving up on persuading Brendan Rodgers to take their vacant head coach’s job despite the Leicester boss’ public declaration that he doesn’t want the role.
Sportsmail exclusively revealed on Wednesday that Tottenham failed in a fresh move to persuade the Foxes boss to fill the role vacated by Jose Mourinho last week.
Speaking on Wednesday, Rodgers publicly ruled himself out of the running for the Tottenham job.
Tottenham still remain hopeful they can persuade Brendan Rodgers to become head coach
The Leicester boss publicly ruled himself out of the running for the Spurs job midweek
But it is understood that Spurs are not ready to turn their back on Rodgers, although they have lined up talks with Ajax boss Erik ten Hag, who is emerging as a candidate for the position.
But Tottenham’s refusal to give up hope on luring Rodgers indicates the Northern Irishman is now the club’s preferred candidate following the Julian Nagelsmann appointment as next Bayern Munich boss.
There is some hope behind the scenes at Tottenham that the former Liverpool boss’ could have a change of heart according to how Leicester finish their season.
The Foxes are set to clinch Champions League qualification and face Chelsea in the FA Cup final next month.
There is hope behind the scenes in North London that Rodgers may yet change his mind
And while Rodgers has reservations about leaving Leicester for Spurs this summer, there is also recognition from all parties that the process of wrestling the 48-year-old away from the King Power Stadium could turn ugly and be very expensive given he still has four years to run on his contract.
In contrast, Ten Hag has just one year left to run on his current deal at Ajax, and would be relatively cheaper to obtain.
It is understood the Dutchman is aware of the interest from Tottenham and would be willing to hold talks about the role.
Indeed, sources claim Ajax chiefs believe Ten Hag would be tempted by the role.
Spurs have lined up talks with Erik ten Hag and the Ajax boss is willing to discuss the job