Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt another devastating blow in their managerial search this week...

What's the word?

According to Sevilla president Jose Castro, the North Londoners made a "dizzying" offer to their manager Julen Lopetegui to become their next head coach, but he has rejected the opportunity as he is happy in Spain.

In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena SER (as relayed by the Telegraph), Castro said:

"Julen rang me and told me. He said he'd received offers he'd not listened to in addition to a dizzying one from Tottenham. But he said he doesn't forget things and that he is very motivated here. We believed and believe in him, giving him a two-year contract extension, and I'm sure he will bring much more to the club."

Blow after blow

This is just the latest setback of many in what has been an immensely frustrating process for Spurs. It's been over two months since Jose Mourinho was sacked by Daniel Levy, with the club still no closer to finding his long-term successor.

Ryan Mason had taken charge on an interim basis until the end of the 2020/21 campaign and at this stage, he could be in line to take pre-season considering that their players who aren't involved at Euro 2020 will resume training on July 5th.

Early on in their hunt, it's thought that Spurs made Julian Nagelsmann one of their top targets. He instead opted for Bayern Munich, understandably.

Leicester City's Brendan Rodgers was another mooted first-choice option for Levy and co but he ruled himself out of swapping the FA Cup winners for the seventh-place strugglers.

Since then, Spurs have reportedly held talks with no fewer than four more candidates, with neither being appointed.

The Athletic revealed that the Lilywhites had tried to bring back Mauricio Pochettino in a sensational return to the club that sacked him over 18 months ago but Paris Saint-Germain held firm in their stance to keep him.

Chelsea's former Premier League-winning coach Antonio Conte was the next name to appear to be close to the role before negotiations collapsed, with both parties having their own doubts.

And more recently, the newly-appointed director of football Fabio Paratici has seen moves for Paulo Fonseca and Gennaro Gattuso fall through, leaving Spurs seemingly back at square one.

Now it has been confirmed that Lopetegui, who won the Europa League at Sevilla in 2019, has also rejected them, only adding to Levy's frustrations.

This news will surely have the Tottenham supremo absolutely livid.

With pre-season less than ten days away and the Lilywhites still managerless heading into a third month, the pressure will only mount on those in charge at the club.

AND in other news, Forget Nuno: Paratici can revive Spurs by hiring "wonderful" 57 y/o with 67% win rate...