Spurs on verge of appointing Ange Postecoglou as manager

Tottenham Hotspur are close to sealing the appointment of Ange Postecoglou after Celtic granted the London club permission to speak to the head coach.

And Postecoglou’s imminent arrival at Spurs is expected to precede a huge attempted clear-out as the club look to re-shape the first-team squad.

If talks continue to progress it is understood Tottenham could announce Postecoglou’s appointment by Tuesday. The 57-year-old is expected to sign a contract that could run for three years and cost Tottenham less than £5 million in compensation. He is keen to bring his Celtic assistant John Kennedy with him to Spurs.

Tottenham are believed to be willing to let go as many as seven first-team players, led by captain Hugo Lloris and Ivan Perisic, in what could be a big summer of change.

The futures of Davinson Sánchez and Ryan Sessegnon are also in doubt, while Spurs have decided not to sign Arnaut Danjuma, who spent the second half of last season on loan at the club, while Clément Lenglet may be allowed to return to Barcelona.

Bids, should they be forthcoming, could also be listened to for Ben Davies or Eric Dier.

Tottenham’s disappointing campaign, in which they finished eighth and missed out on qualification for Europe, is understood to have prompted a will to clear out a number of players this summer.

On top of the first-team players who could be allowed to leave, Spurs will attempt to sell Giovani Lo Celso, Sergio Reguilón and Harry Winks, who spent last season out on loan, but have not made a decision on the future of midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.

Ndombele spent last season on loan at Napoli and made 30 league appearances as the Italian club won the Serie A title and sources have indicated that Postecoglou may wish to take a close look at him before a decision on the 26-year-old’s future is made.

One player Tottenham do not want to sell is Harry Kane, who is set to be the subject of a bid from Real Madrid.

Real have made Kane their number one target to replace Karim Benzema, but chairman Daniel Levy remains determined to try to keep his star man and would demand at least £100 million.