Argentinian is also wanted by Liga giants Real Madrid.
Southampton face a battle to keep hold of their highly rated head coach Mauricio Pochettino after it emerged that Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur were hoping to lure the Argentinian to White Hart Lane at the end of the season as a replacement for current manager Tim Sherwood, according to reports on talkSPORT.co.uk.
SEE ALSO: Best Football Manager wonderkids
The north London club may have only appointed Sherwood to his post last December, with the former Tottenham midfielder agreeing an 18-month deal with chairman Daniel Levy.
However, after an initial upturn in results at White Hart Lane, Spurs have recently lost three matches in a row in all competitions, including back-to-back reverses in the Premier League against London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal to slip back in the race for a top-four finish this season, and with it entry into the Uefa Champions League.
And now as a result, Spurs are understood to already be drawing up a list of candidates to take over fr0m Sherwood next season, with the name of the Saints boss said to be their first-choice target at a time when the south-cost club’s owner Katharina Liebherr is set to hand Pochettino a new deal at St Mary’s.