Frank de Boer has told Ajax, his current employers, that he wants to speak to Tottenham at the end of the Dutch season about the possibility of becoming the London club’s next manager.

Tottenham have monitored De Boer since last December, when they sacked Andre Villas-Boas and replaced him with Tim Sherwood who, in turn, is not expected to stay beyond the summer, and it has emerged that they have now made an official approach to the Ajax director of football, Marc Overmars.

Spurs made a move for De Boer during the Dutch league’s winter break only for the 43-year-old to make it clear that his future lay at Ajax.

Tottenham had made Louis van Gaal their number one target to replace Sherwood in the summer and they had been encouraged in their pursuit of the Holland manager. But they came to worry that Van Gaal was holding out for a bigger club, namely Manchester United, and they had begun to reassess their options. One of these, though they retain an interest in Southampton's Mauricio Pochettino, was to try again for De Boer. United have now made a play for Van Gaal, after sacking David Moyes last week.

Contracted to 2017
De Boer, who is contracted to Ajax until 2017, had always said that he wanted to remain there for many years. He is reaching the end of his fourth season as manager and has just secured a fourth consecutive league title. But De Boer's comments to the media in Holland this week represent a change of tack.

“When Tottenham are coming, I want to listen, after May 3rd, to what they have to say,” De Boer said, referring to the date of their last game of the season. “It is clear that they have to have good plans. I would not leave Ajax for nothing. But Spurs are a club that I feel good about. They have made their interest clear to Marc Overmars and, after the last match, I am going to think about this possibility. I am going to talk and listen and, after that, I will let my feelings speak.”

Sherwood is under contract until 2015 and he has made no secret of his frustration at how Tottenham are actively pursuing his replacement.
Guardian Service