Spanish journalist Paco Gonzalez, who works on radio programme 'Tiempo de Juego' on 'Cadena COPE', claims that Real Madrid have given up on bringing Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino to the club as a replacement for the outgoing Zinedine Zidane.
The Argentine was quickly installed as the favourite to take over in the Spanish capital following the shock news that Zidane would be leaving the club just days after his third straight Champions League triumph.
Pochettino is believed to have been on Real Madrid's radar for some time, with the Spanish giants said to be big fans of the way the Spurs boss goes about managing his squad and ensuring a pathway between the academy and the first steam.
However, according to the aforementioned source, the Real Madrid hierarchy does not want to start a long wrangle with Spurs over their boss, with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy a notoriously difficult man to negotiate with.
With Pochettino's contract not containing any release clause, he himself would likely have to force his exit in order for Spurs to allow him to leave, something which seems unlikely, even though he refused to rule out a move when quizzed on the topic on Friday.
If this report is true, Madrid will be forced to find new candidates for the role. Germany coach Joachim Low ruled himself out of the running on Friday, though the likes of Massimiliano Allegri, Jürgen Klopp, Marcelo Bielsa, Guti, Antonio Conte have all been linked with the role in the last few days.