Tottenham were yesterday warned that any move to lure Lazio coach Roberto Mancini to White Hart Lane would have to wait until at least this summer.
Spurs have already been linked with interest in the likes of Martin O'Neill, Alan Curbishley and Guus Hiddink for their vacant long-term manager's post.
However, speculation has already started that the North London club are considering the possibility of replacing caretaker coach David Pleat sooner rather than later after their poor run of results.
Mancini has now entered the fray as another candidate, with his agent, Athole Still, believing that Spurs are potentially interested in the Lazio coach.
"I've heard there has been interest but there have been no official discussions and there are many complications," Still said.
Those complications could relate to the fact that Mancini has almost four years left to run on his existing contract with Lazio.
While the Rome club are desperately short of funds, it would no doubt take a sizeable compensation package to lure Mancini away.
Although Lazio's sporting director Oreste Cinquini admitted that Mancini could quit in the summer, he stressed that the former Italian international was going nowhere in the meantime.
"The club at the moment is undergoing a difficult time so we cannot guarantee he will remain next season," said Cinquini. "But Mancini will remain at Lazio this season. That is certain."
Mancini has limited first-hand experience of English football, having played six games for Peter Taylor's Leicester in early 2001, before being lured back to Italy to take charge of Fiorentina.
"He loves England and he speaks good English, so he has always said that he wouldn't mind in the future coaching in England," added Cinquini. Mancini deserves to go to a big club."
Whether he considers Tottenham as a big enough club to satisfy his ambition remains to be seen.
Spurs would surely have to ensure their Premiership safety before any respected manager would agree to come to White Hart Lane. Five consecutive defeats have pushed them not only into the relegation zone but out of the League Cup, with renewed pressure on Pleat's position ahead of this weekend's FA Cup third round tie at home to Crystal Palace.
It was only last month that Pleat and first-team coach Chris Hughton were being assured by chairman Daniel Levy they would remain in place until the end of this season.
That was before their recent slump, but Levy is said to have told the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust: "David Pleat has respect in the dressing-room" and is not "the root cause of recent poor performances".
Reporting the outcome of a conference call this week, Daniel Wynne and Bernie Kingsley revealed on the trust's website: "There is an open invitation for us to go knocking on Daniel Levy's door if there have not been major changes to the squad by the end of January.
"You also have to take our word that no punches were pulled. It was hoped David Pleat would then steady ship so we could bring in the right person but it was dependent upon players to perform.
"The current position clearly is not good enough and Daniel Levy 'cannot allow Tottenham ever to get relegated' because it would be a financial disaster and there is no guarantee we would be able to return to the Premiership.
