Tottenham were today warned that any move to lure Lazio coach Roberto Mancini to White Hart Lane would have to wait until at least the summer.
Spurs have been linked to Martin O'Neill, Alan Curbishley and Guus Hiddink for their vacant manager's post.
But speculation continues to mount that the club are considering replacing caretaker coach David Pleat sooner rather than later after their poor run of results.
Mancini has now entered the fray as another candidate, with his agent, Athole Still, believing that Spurs are interested in the Lazio coach.
"I've heard there has been interest but there have been no official discussions and there are many complications," Still told the BBC.
Those complications could relate to the fact that Mancini has almost four years left to run on his existing contract with Lazio.
While the Rome club are desperately short of funds, it would no doubt take a sizeable compensation package to lure Mancini away.
On the player front, Tottenham today had a bid for Republic of Ireland international Andy Reid turned down by Nottingham Forest.
PA