Tottenham lining up Brentford's Thomas Frank as new manager?

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly set to turn their attention to Brentford manager Thomas Frank after ending their pursuit of Julian Nagelsmann.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy continues to single-handedly search for the Lilywhites' new head coach in the wake of Antonio Conte and Cristian Stellini's exits.

Ryan Mason remains in temporary charge for the time being, and the 31-year-old has opened the door to being given the job full time, but he is not considered a candidate for a new permanent manager.

Ex-Bayern Munich boss Nagelsmann was initially touted as Spurs' number one pick, as the German quickly pulled out of the race to become Chelsea's new head coach following his exit from Bavaria.

However, Nagelsmann is now believed to be out of the running for the Tottenham job too, and Spurs never held any meetings with the 35-year-old over a North London appointment.

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With no sporting director in place following Fabio Paratici's resignation, Levy is spearheading Spurs' pursuit of a new leader, and talkSPORT claims that Brentford coach Frank is admired by the Lilywhites.

The Dane led the Bees to their first-ever season of Premier League football via the Championship playoffs in the 2020-21 season, and Brentford comfortably secured top-flight survival with a 13th-placed finish.

The capital club have continued their upward trajectory under Frank and are sitting ninth in the table with 53 points from 36 games this season, just four points off a route into the Europa Conference League.

Back in December, Frank committed his future to Brentford with a new long-term contract until 2027, but Tottenham could apparently try to test the Bees' resolve this summer.

"Thomas Frank is a name that increasingly keeps coming up in conversations as someone Tottenham have an admiration for," journalist Alex Crook told talkSPORT.

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"I would go as far as to say that Brentford are even anticipating an approach for Thomas Frank. Would he be a big enough name to keep the Spurs fans satisfied? They need to make a decision because they're just in a state of flux at the moment."

The 49-year-old managed a selection of Denmark's youth teams and Brondby before joining Brentford in December 2016, serving as Dean Smith's assistant before being given the top job in 2018.

Frank has since won 104, drawn 53 and lost 73 of his 230 games in charge of Brentford, but he is not the only name on Spurs' list of potential Nagelsmann alternatives.

Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso and Feyenoord's Arne Slot are also rumoured to be in contention, while exploratory talks have apparently been held with Sporting Lisbon's Ruben Amorim.

However, Tottenham apparently want to have a new sporting director in place before they officially welcome Conte's successor to the club this summer.