Spanish heavyweights Atletico Madrid have eyed up Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino as a potential successor to current manager Diego Simeone.
Argentine Simeone has expressed that he could leave the club at the end of this season, and theMirrorreport thatAtletico hierarchy view his former international team-mate Pochettino as a viable candidate to succeed him.
Simeone revealed earlier this season that he had agreed to bring forward the end date of his existing Atleti contract by two years; his current deal now expires in June 2018, as opposed to June 2020 as previously planned.
This sparked rumours that the intense Argentine felt he was coming to the end of the line in Madrid, along with the fact that Simeone admitted he was considering his future after the Champions League final defeat to city rivals Real last season.
Moreover, Simeone's sonGiovanni has recently stated that he expects his father to end up back at the San Siro with Inter, the club he played for between 1997 and 1999 - although the Genoa man did say that his dad is happy and settled at Atletico.
In any case, the situation has reached the point where the powers that be at Atletico have started to plan for the future and the club's hierarchy are clearly impressed by the job that Pochettino has done in North London.
However, Atletico will be wary of reported interest in the former Espanyol manager from across the city, as Real Madrid are also rumoured to have Pochettino in their sights to succeed current boss Zinedine Zidane.
Given Real's flying start to the season, it is unlikely that they will be looking for a new boss at the end of the current campaign, although the tiny shelf life of Bernabeu bosses means a managerial change is never totally off the table where Los Blancos are concerned.
Moreover, Pochettino has a contract at White Hart Lane until 2021, and tough negotiator and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is unlikely to let his man go without a fight.