AC Milan target Mauricio Pochettino with £300m summer transfer budget

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as AC Milan’s No.1 target to replace current head coach Gennaro Gattuso.

It was reported by the Daily Mail at the weekend that the Italian side are assessing managerial options and are “keen” on two candidates based in England: Spurs boss Pochettino and Liverpool chief Jurgen Klopp.

Former Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis is now with Milan and the Daily Mirror says that he has been handed the mandate of “bringing trophies back” to the San Siro.

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Pochettino has been placed at the top of Milan’s shortlist and they will try to lure him to Italy by handing him a huge transfer budget.

A move for Pochettino would be “audacious”, says the Mirror, but Milan are ready to give the 47-year-old a “£300m summer transfer warchest to rejuvenate the club”.

The Mirror said: “Gazidis believes Pochettino is the man to head up his operation having seen him at close quarters during his time at The Emirates - and the impact the Argentinian has made in the Premier League at Southampton and Spurs.”

Levy’s new battle to keep Poch

Milan are not the first club linked with a move for Pochettino this season - Manchester United and Real Madrid were both reportedly interested in the Argentine.

However, any moves for Pochettino were ruled out after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was named as United’s new full-time manager and Zinedine Zidane returned as head coach of Real.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy “won’t welcome further speculation”, says the Mirror, and he will hope that the move to the new £1bn stadium and “the promise of a substantial transfer budget” will be enough to fend off the interest from Milan.

Klopp happy at Anfield

Liverpool manager Klopp says he is committed to the Anfield club despite reports linking him to German giants Bayern Munich.

Klopp, who previously managed Bayern’s Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund, told Die Welt: “I have a contract at Liverpool until 2022. And no one here has the feeling that we should end it - neither from the side of the owner nor my side.”

When asked if he could ever move to Bayern, Klopp added: “I do not know. There’s a long way to go. Basically, football is like this: the opportunity has to be right, and the timing has to be right.

“But I’m totally happy here and do not feel like I’m finished here. Our team has a good age structure and we can work together for a while.”