Next Tottenham manager: Ryan Mason insists job is ‘appealing’ despite Spurs missing out on top candidates

Ryan Mason has brushed aside suggestions that there is a lack of interest in succeeding him as Tottenham manager.

Mason was named interim head-coach until the end of the season following Jose Mourinho’s sacking but a number of leading candidates for the full-time job are already out of reach.

RB Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsmann, Spurs’ top choice, has agreed to join Bayern Munich in the summer, while Ajax coach Erik ten Hag signed a contract extension on Friday morning, while admitting interest from north London.

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers is also interesting Spurs but has made it clear he is committed to the Foxes, leaving attractive options thin on the ground.

Spurs, who are yet to offer anyone the job, could turn to out-of-work Ralf Rangnick, the former RB Leipzig coach, Fulham’s Scott Parker or Brighton boss Graham Potter.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s visit of relegated Sheffield United, Mason believes there will be no shortage of interest in the job.

“This is Tottenham Hotspur Football Club,” he said. “There’s always going to be people interested. We have the best stadium in the world in my opinion. And also the best training complex in the world. It’s a fantastic group of players and a fantastic fanbase.

“So of course it’s going to be appealing. It’s a great football club. I’m probably biased because I feel passionately about it. But it’s a big football club.”

Mason, 29, is the youngest-ever Premier League boss and he is not thought to currently be in consideration for the full-time role, having stepped up from his position in the club’s academy.

But in a potential sales pitch to the club, he said his experience as a player had taught him to always be prepared and believes his relationships at the club and education under John McDermott, Mauricio Pochettino and Mourinho have stood him in good stead.

“In my experience as a player, you have to be ready, have to prepare yourself and you have to think and feel like things are going to happen,” Mason said.

“I had that as a player. I was playing a reserve game at Sunderland in the [Under] 23s on the Monday night and then on the Wednesday night I was at White Hart Lane scoring against Nottingham Forest and then that Saturday I made my Premier League debut at the Emirates in a north London derby.

“It’s easy to say he’s young, he’s unprepared. Yes, of course I don’t have the top-flight experience that a 40- or 50-year-old would have but what I do have is 20 years of experience with this football club, I know everyone whether that’s the kit-man, the cleaners, the groundsman, I know everyone.

“Everyone knows me. I have personal relationships with everyone in this football club so you can’t underestimate how important that is in an organisation.

“Of course I’m not silly, not naïve. I’m 29, I am young but I’m very passionate about football. I believe I know the game and I believe I can communicate as well with the players and with the players there is a respect.

“I’ve been very lucky that I had one of, if not the best, coach educators in the world in terms of John McDermott. I was very lucky to come back and work with him.

“I had the exposure of seeing how Mauricio and his coaching team worked and also Jose and his coaching team as well, so in my three-and-a-half years as a coach I’ve been exposed to more than some people get exposed to in 20, 30 years of coaching.”

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