Townsend thinks Tottenham should give Mason's job on a full-time basis

Andros Townsend believes that Tottenham are scraping the barrel by pursuing Gennaro Gattuso and should give Ryan Mason the manager's job on a full-time basis.

Following the sacking of Jose Mourinho in April, Mason oversaw Spurs' last six Premier League games of the season as caretaker boss, winning four of them. However, the team only qualified for the Europa Conference League after finishing seventh.

It was revealed on Friday that talks with Gattuso had ended abruptly, with the club having previously missed out on Paulo Fonseca, Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, Erik ten Hag, Antonio Conte and former boss Mauricio Pochettino, and Townsend told talkSPORT that Daniel Levy should plump for the familiar option.

'I've had enough, just give it to Mason and get on with it,' the former Tottenham player said. 'Give it to him for a year, see how he gets on and then reassess next summer.

'If you were going to get a top manager in, fair enough, Ten Hag, Pochettino, Conte, but after Conte turned it down it was clear nobody wanted the job.

'If you're going down to Gattuso, there's clearly nothing else out there.

'So if nobody wants the job, give it to a man in Ryan Mason who dealt with everything well under the circumstances.

'He dealt with all the European Super League fallout, he fronted the Harry Kane fallout on his own and ended the season well with Spurs by getting them into Europe… ish.

'He deserves a fair crack at it and hopefully Daniel Levy does look into giving Ryan another go at it next season.'

Kane's future is still uncertain as the 27-year-old prepares for England's Euro 2020 grudge match against Scotland - and may still be in N17 by the time Tottenham host Kane's potential suitors Manchester City on the opening weekend of the 2021-22 Premier League season.

Spurs have their eye on highly rated Brighton right back Tariq Lamptey as Serge Aurier nears the exit door - but

As Tottenham continue to search for Mourinho's successor, who might they turn to? Read Adam Shergold's comprehensive piece to find out.