Sorry Tottenham Hotspur fans, Julian Nagelsmann likes Arsenal and John Terry

Julian Nagelsmann might not be the perfect man for the Tottenham Hotspur job, with the former Bayern Munich boss much preferring their local rivals.

On Sunday night, Tottenham finally got rid of Antonio Conte, after a week of speculation, brought on by the Italian's own action, leaving them without a permanent manager.

The decision had to take place in the international break, after his outburst the week before, but, in many ways, they were still too late with the announcement.

In the time it took them to get rid of the Italian, they'd missed out on one potential target, with Thomas Tuchel becoming the Bayern manager.

The German champions, who are actually trailing in this season's title race, for once, decided to get rid of Julian Nagelsmann and replace him with the former Chelsea manager.

With Tuchel out of the running to head to north London, Nagelsmann became an obvious candidate for the Premier League side, although they'd still have to pay compensation for him at the moment.

However, whilst fans of the club are excited by the prospect of the 35-year-old, his previous comments paint him as more from the red side of that part of the capital.

Speaking to the Bundesliga website about the style of football he prefers, two years ago, the manager said, "I like to attack the opponents near their own goal because your own path to the goal is not as long if you get the ball higher up

"I like the way Villarreal play and they have a great way of coaching young players. I also like Barcelona and Arsenal as well as the work of Arsene Wenger."

Nagelsmann likes attacking football. Image: Alamy

In some ways, Spurs will see his love of attacking football as a positive, and the kind of thing they'd like to see back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santos and Conte, the past three permanent managers, have hardly instilled an exciting style of play.

But praise for Wenger and the Gunners isn't usually particularly welcome at Spurs, especially at the moment, with their rivals top of the Premier League.

Perhaps even worse is the fact that the would be new Spurs manager also has revealed in the past that his idol was Chelsea legend John Terry.

The coach was a defender in his playing days, which were cut short due to injury, and, speaking to the Times in October 2021 he said, "It was crazy, because when I was a youth player I played with [close friend] Christian Träsch. I called him Patrick — Patrick Vieira — because he played No 6 and he called me John Terry, ‘Johnny.'

"In those days, Terry was one of the best central defenders — I think there was one season he did not lose one duel. He was brave with his head.

"I was good with my feet but better with my head, and there were some similarities, he was kind of a role model."

The pair met when RB Leipzig faced Aston Villa, where the former Blues captain was assistant manager, with Nagelsmann adding, "I talked to him for about three minutes and explained to him that I was John Terry in the early days as well. I had to explain the situation, as he looked [at me] weird."

So perhaps the German isn't the perfect man to bring in to replace Conte. Then again, it could be worse, it could be Tim Sherwood again...