Mauricio Pochettino in advanced Tottenham talks

Mauricio Pochettino, Southampton’s manager, is poised to take over at Tottenham Hotspur with the London club now accepting that the Argentine is the best option to fill their vacant head coach role.

The Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, had been told before Saturday’s Champions League final that Carlo Ancelotti was not an option, whether Real Madrid won the game or not. Frank de Boer, the Ajax manager, remains the back-up candidate to Pochettino but Spurs went cold on him after he spoke publicly about their approach.

Taking over at Spurs will cap a remarkable 16 months in the Premier League for Pochettino, who took over at Southampton in January last year on a contract that expires at the end of next season. There is hope at Tottenham that the former Espanyol coach will be capable of working in tandem with a director of football, the position currently held by Franco Baldini.

Another factor in his favour is that he is regarded as a prime candidate to coax the best out of fellow Argentine Erik Lamela, the club’s £30m record signing from Roma last summer, who has endured a terrible first season. Pochettino is expected to bring his own staff with him. Both Tim Sherwood’s assistants Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey have not yet made a decision on their futures.

Pochettino led Southampton to an eighth-placed finish last season, although he was beaten home and away by Sherwood, including the latter’s first league game in charge in December. While the Argentine has drawn praise for the way in which he has handled the young players at the club, there have been doubts over his dealings with some of the more senior professionals, including record signing Dani Osvaldo who was sent out on loan to Juventus in January.

Should Pochettino sign at Spurs, Sherwood would be one of the options to replace him at Southampton.