Tottenham reportedly in advanced talks with ex-Roma coach Fonseca

Paulo Fonseca, dressed as Zorro, attends a news conference after a Champions League match against Manchester City in 2017. Reuters

Tottenham Hotspur are in advanced talks with former Roma coach Paulo Fonseca about becoming their new manager, according to British media reports.

Portuguese Fonseca, 48, has emerged as the front runner to fill the vacancy after talks with former Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte broke down last week.

Ryan Mason was put in caretaker charge until the end of the season as Spurs finished a disappointing seventh in the Premier League. As a result, Tottenham only managed to qualify for the Europa League Conference starting in 2021/22.

The North London club sacked Jose Mourinho in April less than a week before the Carabao Cup final. Unperturbed by his 17 months in charge at Spurs, Roma have appointed Mourinho as their new coach for next season.

Tottenham have already appointed a new sporting director in Fabio Paratici, who has joined after 11 years at Juventus.

However, Spurs supremo Daniel Levy's efforts to replace Mourinho have so far proved less successful.

The shortlist included highly-rated Leipzig coach Julian Naglesmann, who opted to take over at Bayern Munich to replace Germany-bound Hansi Flick, another Levy consideration.

Brendan Rodgers' stock is sky high after leading Leicester City to an FA Cup triumph but the Northern Irishman has committed himself to the Foxes foe the foreseeable.

Tottenham 2020/21 ratings

It is also reported Levy made an unsuccessful approach to Paris Saint-Germain regarding bringing former manager Mauricio Pochettino back to the club. The Argentine would have proven a popular choice among the Spurs faithful after five largely successful years at the club before being sacked in December 2019 and replaced with Mourinho.

However, Levy's efforts to lure Pochettino back to the club he helped guide to a first Champions League final in 2019 were swiftly rebuffed by PSG.

Fonseca left Roma at the end of last season after they failed to qualify for the Champions League, finishing seventh in Serie A, and were beaten by Manchester United in the Europa League semi-finals.

He joined Roma in 2019 on a two-year contract with the option for a third year if the club reached the Champions League next season.

The Mozambique-born Fonseca previously coached Shakhtar Donetsk where he won the league and cup double in all three seasons with the Ukrainian club.

He also won the Ukrainian Super Cup in 2017.

Fonseca has also coached Portuguese clubs including Pacos Ferreira, Braga and Porto.

He famously donned a Zorro costume during a 2017 post-match news conference after Shakhtar beat Manchester City 2-1 to qualify for the last-16 of the Champions League.