As Tottenham Hotspur sporting director Fabio Paratici continues to seek out potential replacements for Antonio Conte in the dugout – despite the 53-year-old having yet to be sacked – a whole host of names have been mooted as possible candidates for the position in recent days.
According to The Guardian, one man who does seemingly have 'admirers' at N17 is Sporting CP boss, Ruben Amorim, with the 38-year-old – whose current deal in Lisbon is set to run until 2026 – said to be interested in taking on the role.
As Football Insider previously noted, the Portuguese coach is said to be "ready" to take on a top job in the Premier League, although the Lilywhites could find it difficult to secure his services prior to the end of the season.
A further sticking point may also be the fact that the highly-coveted coach – who has also attracted interest from Paris Saint-Germain – could prove rather costly due to his €20m (£18m) release clause, albeit with that figure set to drop to €15m (£13m), this summer.
The up-and-coming manager has seemingly justified such an asking price having done an "incredible" job in his current post over the past few years, according to Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, having notably knocked the Gunners out of the Europa League a week ago.
The former Braga head coach would not be the first, exciting, young Portuguese coach to try their luck in north London, with Amorim's rise seemingly evoking memories of a certain, Andre Villas-Boas.
Would Amorim be a success at Spurs?
Much like the current Sporting man, Villas-Boas made his name in his native Portugal at FC Porto, enjoying a remarkable debut campaign in charge of the club during the 2010/11 season, as the emerging coach guided his side to the treble – notably enjoying an unbeaten Primeira Liga season and winning the Europa League.
That stunning, breakout success ensured that the Porto native was swiftly snapped up by Premier League giants Chelsea for the following season at the age of just 33, having followed in the footsteps of compatriot Jose Mourinho – a man whom Amorim has also earned comparisons to.
That spell at Stamford Bridge lasted just a matter of months before Villas-Boas was shown the door, although he quickly returned to English football to take charge of Spurs in 2012, finishing fifth in that debut season with what was then a club-record tally of 72 points in the Premier League.
Despite all the early excitement of that "magnificent" season – in his own words – that enthusiasm quickly faded amid the loss of talisman Gareth Bale, with the highly-rated coach again finding himself out of a job midway through the 2013/14 campaign.
That ultimately ill-fated spell has perhaps showcased the step up that is required to go from thriving in the Primeira Liga to then repeating that success in England, with it undoubtedly a difficult transition to make to move into one of Europe's top five leagues.
The fear will be that Amorim – who is also still in his thirties – could suffer a similar fate if he is to be appointed in the near future, with it likely something of a gamble as far as Paratici and co are concerned.