sport news Tottenham: The candidates who could help rebuild Spurs after Antonio Conte's ... trends now

Here we go again. Back to square one. Tottenham have sacked another high-profile manager and nothing to show for it.

Antonio Conte was given his marching orders late on Sunday and now he's out the door following his quite explosive rant that slammed the club and his players in 10 extraordinary minutes.

It means Daniel Levy is now looking for his fourth permanent manager since sacking Mauricio Pochettino in 2019, leaving fans frustrated after yet more failure.

Levy's recruitment strategy is, once again, under the spotlight. The Spurs chairman brought Conte in to help instill a 'winning mentality' and finally end their trophy drought – the same task given to Jose Mourinho when he succeeded Pochettino.

But both managers – who have won trophies at nearly every other club they've managed – didn't even last 18 months in north London and left under a very dark cloud.

What makes Conte's appointment – and Nuno Espirito Santo's disastrous short reign before that – even worse is that Levy told fans that they can the expect to see the return of 'free-flowing, attacking and entertaining football' – what Levy dubbed as 'Tottenham's DNA'.

While 'Conte-ball' was in full effect in the final few months of the 2021-22 campaign which saw the Italian secure a fourth-place finish and Champions League football, the style of play this season has been slow, tedious and predictable, with fans left even more infuriated by Conte's lack of a Plan B.

Since Pochettino's sacking, Spurs have ditched the idea of promoting younger talent from within and buying into short-term solutions that haven't worked. 

Levy's 'win now' approach to hiring high-profile managers has failed miserably and now the writing is on the wall.

Instead of trying to be a knock-off version of Chelsea, Spurs now need to cut their losses and start what could be a long and painful rebuild. 

They shouldn't look to far for inspiration, either, especially when you peer across town and see the fantastic job Mikel Arteta is doing.

Currently eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table, the Gunners are on course to win their first league title in two decades. And the fact the club's board have stuck by Arteta through thick and thin over several years makes it that much sweeter for Arsenal.

This should be the blueprint that Levy now follows and his next appointment needs to finally back up his promise of restoring the club's DNA on the pitch.

But with Conte gone, who is the right man to take Spurs forward and make them into a force domestically and on the continent? Sportsmail take a look a few candidates.

The bookies favourite – and for good reason.

The 35-year-old is on an upwards trajectory, with his stints at Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig, and most recently, Bayern Munich showing he is on course to becoming one of the best coaches Europe will have to offer in the not too distant future.

Tottenham have wanted him before he was at Bayern and Sportsmail understands that they've put him back to the top of their list for succeeding Conte in the summer.

Nagelsmann certainly fits the bill when it comes to providing free-flowing, attacking and entertaining football, as set out by Levy, and the task of rebuilding a club he is said to have a 'soft spot' for could be exactly what the club needs over the next five or six years.