Daniel Levy's pursuit for a new Tottenham Hotspur manager appears to be coming to a head, and while Celtic's Ange Postecoglou is the frontrunner, Luis Enrique's 'interest' in the job is keeping the race alive.
What's the latest on Luis Enrique to Tottenham?
According to journalist Paul Brown, speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Enrique is "interested" in taking the reins at Spurs and is believed to be alongside Postecoglou and Sporting Lisbon gaffer Ruben Amorin on the candidate list.
Brown said: “Luis Enrique is a really interesting one. I think he's done great work at some of the clubs he's been at and with some of the teams that he's managed.
"I do believe he also is another one who's quite interested in the job, but as I say, I would prefer Spurs to be looking in a slightly different direction."
Despite this, following a long and onerous process that has yet to yield a desired new boss, Enrique could indeed take to the dugout with the transfer window less than two weeks from opening its gates.
Why should Tottenham appoint Enrique?
While Brown might think that the Lilywhites should seek a different solution to appointing the former Barcelona and Spain manager, he possesses a proven trophy-clinching pedigree and could inject a much-needed winning mentality in north London, having once been heralded as "remarkable" by Arsene Wenger.
Having dismissed Antonio Conte in March, Ryan Mason has led from the dugout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a caretaker basis but is not expected to take the reins next season.
Enrique is a distinguished manager with an illustrious record, having won the European treble with Barcelona in his debut season, and his managerial style of astute tactical understanding and an awareness of both the team's philosophy and the individual roles could be exactly what Spurs need after an ending to the campaign littered in disarray.
For such an approach to be effectively implemented at Tottenham, he will need a midfield conductor capable of leading with conviction and serving diligently on the pitch, and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg could be his man.
According to CIES Football Observatory, the Danish machine is valued at £52m after signing from Southampton for just £15m in 2020, and despite his outfit's lacklustre year he has remained a solid performer in the middle.
As per Sofascore, he completed an impressive 7.11 average rating in the top-flight this term, scoring four goals, registering five assists, completing 89% of his passes, making 1.6 tackles per match and succeeding with 72% of his dribbles.
Should Enrique arrive, the £100k-per-week "monster" – as once hailed by former Denmark midfielder Morten Bisgaard – could adopt the role that Ivan Rakitic played so well for La Blaugrana with the 53-year-old at the helm, with the Croatian engine his outfit's workhorse to make the system tick.
He earned a glowing endorsement from Jose Mourinho for his feats in Catalonia, who said:
"He’s a fantastic player at every level. He does the defensive work on the right side to compensate for [Lionel] Messi. He runs miles.
"In ball possession he’s fantastic, he’s simple, he’s effective. He’s one of the most underrated players."
Having just won the Europa League with Sevilla, the 35-year-old boasts a career average pass success rate of 85% and 1.4 tackles on average, as per WhoScored.
Hojbjerg could be a "phenomenal" and "intelligent" heir to his esteemed positional peer in Enrique's squad, as Mourinho also remarked of the 27-year-old, and with him at the centre, Spurs could whir into life at full throttle.