Feb 13 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur are to appoint former Juventus boss Igor Tudor as interim manager until the end of the season, according to British media reports, after they sacked Thomas Frank with the club five points above the relegation zone.
Tudor, who has managed several clubs across Europe, including Galatasaray and Olympique de Marseille, last led Serie A side Juventus, and reports said on Friday he has agreed a short-term deal to manage the North London club.
The 47-year-old guided Juve to a fourth-place finish in Serie A last season but the Croatian was sacked in October -- seven months after his appointment -- following an eight-match winless run across all competitions.
Tudor will have a baptism of fire when he takes charge of his first match against Premier League leaders and bitter rivals Arsenal in the North London derby on February 22.
Tottenham are currently 16th in the Premier League standings.
A former centre back who spent the majority of his career at Juventus, Tudor won back-to-back Serie A titles as a player between 2001 to 2003 and also reached the 2003 Champions League final.
He began his managerial journey with Hajduk Split in 2013, while he is familiar with Spurs players Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur having been an assistant to Andrea Pirlo at Juventus in 2020-21 when the duo were at the Italian club.
The former Croatia international espouses an aggressive style of play built on pressing high up the pitch, with his teams also relying on quick transitions.
Spurs had appointed Frank prior to the season after his successful spell at Brentford but the Danish manager was unable to make the step up from successful mid-table management to a club that had just won the Europa League.
Apart from climbing up the standings, Tudor will also be charged with their progress in the Champions League where Spurs have qualified for the last 16.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru and Nick Said in Cape Town;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
