Antonio Conte's future at Tottenham Hotspur is becoming increasingly uncertain, with names starting to emerge over who could replace him in the hotseat...

What's the word?

According to reliable Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, the 53-year-old will leave the north London outfit at the end of the season as the club will not renew his €17m-per-year (£15m) contract.

"The news I can tell you with certainty is that Antonio Conte will leave Tottenham at the end of the season. The spark hasn't struck, the contract is in expired and the club did not ask him for renewal." 

The club doesn't like frequent digs. Conte wants a player to win, while the club prefers trading, the feeling with the club hasn't started. His family, among other things, has remained in Italy," he said to Sky Sports (via Arena Napoli).

Poch can be Spurs' saviour again

And with such reports, potential successors have been bandied about, namely another ex-Chelsea boss in Thomas Tuchel, who remains out of work since his perhaps shock sacking at Stamford Bridge.

As per the Evening Standard, it's thought that the German would be open to taking the Spurs job, having also been keen to take over from England manager Gareth Southgate before he signed an extension.

There are no doubts that Tuchel would be a good appointment for the Lilywhites after he led the Blues to the Champions League in 2021 but the club is in turmoil, fans are protesting against the ownership as they have had enough of the lack of ambition shown on and off the pitch.

Bringing a manager like Tuchel into that environment could be detrimental in the end, not least because of his Chelsea links.

If anyone is going to pull the club together, then it's going to be Mauricio Pochettino, just like he did in his first stint in charge. Without much of a backing in the transfer market, the Argentine guided Spurs to three consecutive top-three finishes in the Premier League and even to a UCL final.

Arguably, the squad is a tad better now than in the latter stages of his tenure and with Harry Kane still under contract, the duo could be exactly what the north London strugglers need to get things back on track.

Indeed, the former Paris Saint-Germain coach is another target for the Hotspur Way hierarchy, according to CBS Sports reporter Ben Jacobs. "There will be other candidates, including Mauricio Pochettino, ahead of Tuchel for consideration should Conte exit," he tweeted only a few days ago.

Boasting a 54.3% win rate from his 293 games at the helm, Pochettino knows what it takes to create a consistent winning culture around these parts, something that has alluded the Premier League and Serie A winner, who often takes sly snipes at the board and instead, constructs a more toxic environment.

Not to mention the Argentine's knack for getting it spot-on with man-management of the players, having been dubbed as an "exceptional coach" by PSG centre-back Marquinhos and was lauded in a similar nature by former defender Danny Rose.

Recent defeats to arch-rivals Arsenal and defending champions Manchester City have also highlighted just how far behind Spurs are to the league's top dogs and that doesn't match well with a 'win now' type of coach like the Italian tactician.

It could take several years to get the Lilywhites on such a level, as they once were under Pochettino, so he's surely the only man right for the job heading into next season.

Forget Tuchel and anyone else, the 50-year-old is who chairman Daniel Levy needs to end this emerging nightmare under Conte.

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold issues Djed Spence update ahead of deadline day...