Following the news that Nuno Espirito Santo was leaving Wolves at the end of the season, there was a somewhat obvious reaction by bookmakers.
The Portuguese manager was slashed into being the odds-on favourite to become the next Tottenham boss.
He had been out at around 33/1 or longer in some instances to take over at Spurs.
But now that he’s guaranteed to be available soon, Nuno is fancied to go to Tottenham.
Next Tottenham Manager Odds
Nuno Espírito Santo 4/7
Erik Ten Hag 7/1
Maurizio Sarri 9/1
Graham Potter 9/1
Simone Inzaghi 9/1
Brendan Rodgers 16/1
Ralf Rangnick 16/1
Rafa Benitez 20/1
Ryan Maston 20/1
25/1 bar
* (odds recorded at 04:02 GMT on May 22nd, 2021 at Paddy Power)
Nuno to North London?
There’s an obvious fit here. Tottenham are looking for a new permanent manager and Nuno is highly respected.
He joined Wolves when they were rolling through managers like nobody’s business.
Nuno steadied the ship and earned Wolves promotion from the Championship in his first season at Molineux.
But then he built on that as he took Wolves to back-to-back seventh-place finishes in the Premier League.
This season has fallen a little bit short. With one remaining fixture in the Premier League season, Wolves are 12th in the table.
Their big injury hit was the loss of striker Raul Jiminez and they never really recovered from that.
Tottenham looking for change?
Tottenham will want progress next season having missed a top four finish by a long way. They sacked Jose Mourinho earlier this year and left Ryan Mason in temporary charge.
Mason is a 20/1 quote to be installed permanently* (odds recorded at 04:02 GMT on May 22nd, 2021 at Paddy Power).
On the final day of the Premier League season, Spurs have an outside shot of claiming a Europa League place.
If not, they will be trying to hold onto a place in next season’s inaugural Europa Conference League. It’s not the heights that they want to be at.
Also problematically for Tottenham, it seems as if England striker Harry Kane is looking for an exit.
If he was to leave in the summer, that could make taking the job at Tottenham a little less desirable.
Kane is a 10/11 odds-on quote to join Man City for the start of next season* (odds recorded at 04:02 GMT on May 22nd, 2021 at Paddy Power).
What will Wolves do next?
This of course leaves Wolves in a position of looking for a new manager as well. The current front runner is Burno Lage, a former Benfica manager.
He is Portuguese as well and would probably make for an easier transition given the make up of the Wolves squad and the work Nuno leaves behind.
Other names mentioned early for the position include other Portuguese men, current Roma boss Paulo Fonseca, the out-of-work Vitor Pereira and former Chelsea and Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas.
Next Wolves Manager Odds
Bruno Lage 4/11
Paulo Fonseca 9/2
Vitor Pereira 9/1
Rafa Benitez 10/1
André Vilas Boas 10/1
Roberto Martinez 16/1
Frank Lampard 20/1
Eddie Howe 20/1
Pedro Martins 25/1
33/1 bar
* (odds recorded at 04:02 GMT on May 22nd, 2021 at Paddy Power)
