OPINION
Given how fixated Tottenham have become over the Bournemouth squad, a sizeable hint has been dropped that Eddie Howe would be top of their target list to replace Mauricio Pochettino.
While there is no suggestion Pochettino won’t see out the season at Spurs, despite constant Real Madrid speculation, his regular suggestions this season that he is not entirely happy should ring alarm bells for the club.
In terms of who could succeed the man who has transformed the team’s fortunes since his arrival in the summer of 2014, Howe stands out like a sore thumb.
Sky Sports suggest in a detailed update today on Spurs’ January transfer plans that the club’s recruitment team are keeping a very close eye.
Of the seven players targeted by Tottenham ahead of the winter window, four of them, remarkably play for Bournemouth, winger David Brooks, defender Nathan Ake, central midfielder Lewis Cook and striker Callum Wilson.
That is a real testament to the foundations laid at the Cherries by Howe, whose side currently sit sixth in the Premier League.
The man who has steered Bournemouth from the fourth tier of English football to the top flight and kept them there, all while trusting in youth and playing an attractive brand of football, is a miracle-worker.
Like Mauricio Pochettino, Howe is a coach first and foremost who does his best work on the training ground, improving, nurturing and developing top talent.
There is a sense his next job will be a real big hitter where he can achieve what is not possible at Bournemouth – trophy success and top-four finishes.
Should Pochettino quit, then Howe is likely to be top of Spurs’ target list to replace him.