Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino continues to be linked with Real Madrid.
Speculation that Pochettino could be targeted by Real has inevitably been fuelled by the Spanish club sacking Julen Lopetegui – and reports that former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is now out of the running.
The Sun say Real representatives “met with people close to Pochettino” in London last week and “gave promising reports to chairman Florentino Perez”.
The newspaper also declares that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy “must now resist Real’s charms”.
It comes after Spanish newspaper Marca reported that negotiations between Real and Conte have stalled.
Conte had been tipped to take over and reports recently claimed he had reached a financial settlement with Chelsea, paving the way for the Italian to take the job.
Conte was sacked by Chelsea during the summer, when he had a year remaining on his contract.
Meanwhile, The Times suggest that Conte’s failure to agree terms with Real could cost Chelsea more than £7m because it means he will now continue pursuing his former club for damages.
Chelsea reportedly had hoped that Conte would end up at the Bernabéu as him returning to work would mitigate the Blues’ financial obligations to him.
According to reports, under the terms of Conte’s last contract at Chelsea, signed in July 2017, he is entitled to receive his £9.5m for the final year of that contract, hence his legal dispute with the club.