Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Graham Roberts has told The Transfer Tavern that he believes chairman Daniel Levy already has a new manager lined up after sacking Jose Mourinho.

The Spurs chairman made the decision to dispense with the Portuguese on Monday after a slide to seventh in the Premier League table.

Ryan Mason has been placed in interim charge of the team and he oversaw a win in his first game in charge, as Spurs came from behind to win 2-1.

Spurs have been linked with a number of potential appointments after Mourinho’s sacking, foremost among them RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann.

Roberts believes that the German is the favourite for the job, though he also believes that Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has a genuine chance of taking the role.

And he has little doubt that Levy is already engineering the next appointment behind the scenes.

Speaking exclusively to TT, he said: “I think that’s the way he works. You don’t just sack people for the sake of it.

“The Jose one, Pochettino went at 11 o’clock and Mourinho was in charge at one o’clock. Jose was out of a job but the two managers that I think are in pole positions are in jobs.”

Roberts does think that the appointment will likely come at the end of the season, especially if it is to be either Rodgers, who has guided Leicester to the FA Cup final, or Nagelsmann, who is currently second in the Bundesliga with Leipzig.

He added: “One of them (Rodgers) has got a cup final at the end of the season and Nagelsmann’s trying to get into the Champions League. I’m sure they’ve had conversations.”