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​Jose Mourinho’s first signing as Tottenham Hotspur manager could be Zlatan Ibrahimovic, according to one not-so-surprising report.

The 38-year-old former Sweden international will be available for a free transfer in January, following the end of his contract with MLS side LA Galaxy.

Mourinho and Ibrahimovic have previously worked together at both Inter and ​Manchester United.

The Telegraph report that Spurs are now ‘considering hijacking’ AC Milan’s negotiations for the 11-time Swedish Guldbollen winner.

The Serie A side had been seen as frontrunners to re-sign the striker, who has also been linked with various clubs around the globe as his agent, the infamous Mino Raiola, looks for a new deal for his client.

​AC Milan supposedly held a preliminary meeting with Raiola earlier this week to explore the possibility of the striker returning to Italy. However, the Telegraph’s report suggests that Mourinho’s relationship with Ibrahimovic could make Spurs major contenders for his signature.

In his autobiography, Ibrahimovic called Mourinho a ‘special guy’ who ‘arouses fellings in people’.

For their part, ​Tottenham have little in the way of a direct understudy for Harry Kane – particularly since the departure of Fernando Llorente this summer – and could use an experienced, serial winner in the mould of Ibrahimovic, even if he is undoubtedly in the latter stages of his career.

The former PSG and Barcelona frontman scored 28 goals for Manchester United in his first season (2016/17), but had his second year cut short by serious injury. In two years in MLS, Ibrahimovic has scored 52 goals, twice winning LA Galaxy’s Player of the Year and Golden Boot awards, as well as making the league’s Best XI in both seasons.

One sticking point in any prospective Spurs move for the veteran forward may well be his excessive wages, with it thought that he could demand over £200,000 a month. A figure in that ballpark would put Ibrahimovic him right alongside the club’s top earner on the playing staff – Kane.

​Diego Maradona has left his post as Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata boss less than three months after taking charge of the Argentinian Primera Division side.

Heralded as one of world football’s greatest ever players, Maradona’s coaching career has seen yet another casualty having only taken the reins of the club in September.

The club were undergoing club elections to see who would take up the role of club president, with Maradona previously stating that he would only remain in charge if current president Gabriel Pellegrino stayed in his position.

Taking over the club based just outside of Buenos Aires, Maradona was tasked with helping them avoid relegation after a stuttering start to the season. He lost his first three games in charge and despite going on to win three of the following five since then, Gimnasia still remain in the relegation zone, three points from safety.

The news was broken via local radio station La Red by Pellegrino and, speaking of his departure on his ​official Instagram account, Maradona expressed his sadness at the decision.

“This decision hurt me with all my soul,” he said, as relayed by ​Sky Sports.

“I felt that everyone together…were finding the way for Gimnasia to stay in the first division. This was the moment to keep going with the project and look for the necessary reinforcements.

“I hope that whoever comes in to manage the club can continue with the work we started and keep Gimnasia where it belongs. I wish you all the best, with all my heart.”

The move marks yet another abrupt end to one of Maradona’s managerial exploits, with just one of his six roles as a club boss lasting more than one year. To date, his spell with Al Wasl of the United Arab Emirates saw him remain at the helm for the longest, 14 months, coming between 2011 and 2012. Prior to that he was in the dugout at Mexican outfit Dorados de Sinaloa, but that stint lasted only nine months.

​Tottenham Hotspur are in advanced negotiations with José Mourinho over succeeding Mauricio Pochettino as the club’s manager – with conclusion of the deal imminent.

Pochettino parted ways with Spurs on Tuesday following months of speculation, with the club citing a poor run of results as a key factor behind their decision. Spurs have acted fast in replacing him, and are now likely to confirm the appointment of the former Manchester United boss on Wednesday morning.

Talks are at an advanced stage, according to various sources, and 90min has been able to verify as such.

The Portuguese manager has been without a club ever since he left United last December, and he was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Interestingly enough, Tottenham – with the strong possibility Mourinho will be at the helm – visit Old Trafford in the Premier League on December 4.

Pochettino took charge of 293 games with Tottenham, helping them to reach last season’s Champions League final. However, their season so far has been underwhelming – sitting just six points above the relegation zone and 11 points off the pace in the hunt for Champions League qualification.

Upon the announcement of Pochettino’s departure, ​Tottenham chairman Levy said: “We were extremely reluctant to make this change and it is not a decision the Board has taken lightly, nor in haste.

“Regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing.

“It falls to the Board to make the difficult decisions – this one made more so given the many memorable moments we have had with Mauricio and his coaching staff – but we do so in the club’s best interests.

“Mauricio and his coaching staff will always be part of our history. I have the utmost admiration for the manner in which he dealt with the difficult times away from a home ground whilst we built the new stadium and for the warmth and positivity he brought to us.

“I should like to thank him and his coaching staff for all they have contributed. They will always be welcome here.

“We have a talented squad. We need to re-energise and look to deliver a positive season for our supporters.”

Republic of Ireland will face a playoff in March to qualify for Euro 2020 after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Denmark in Dublin.

Needing a win at the Aviva Stadium to overhaul the Danes in Group D, the Irish came up short in their efforts despite a late rally – Matt Doherty’s goal five minutes from time only good enough to earn a point after Martin Braithwaite’s opener.

Joining the Scandinavians at next year’s finals will be group winners Switzerland, whose romping 6-1 win over Gibraltar sealed top spot. Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka was among the scorers at Victoria Stadium, captaining the side for the 90 minutes.

Here, 90min rounds up the action from all of the night’s qualification matches – which included wins for Sweden, Spain and another commanding performance from Italy.

Mick McCarthy’s Ireland fought valiantly against a resolute Denmark side, but will now await the playoff draw on Friday with bated breath.

Martin Braithwaite’s goal 17 minutes from time was a real hammer blow to the Irish, and although Matt Doherty did level up proceedings, there was to be no last hurrah.

Elsewhere in the group, Switzerland took on pointless Gibraltar knowing that only a monumental collapse – against a side ranked 196th in the world – could see them miss out on automatic qualification. That notion was swiftly dismissed as Cedric Itten swiftly calmed any nerves on ten minutes.

Ruben Fargas and Christian Fassnacht ensured it was a lead the Swiss would not relinquish, before Loris Beniton, Xhaka and Itten wrapped up the three points in the closing stages. Despite their crushing defeat, Gibraltar still had a better evening than Armenia – who shipped a whopping nine goals against Italy.

The Azzurri ended qualifying with a 100% record as Ciro Immobile and Nicolo Zaniolo each struck a brace in Palermo. ​Chelsea playmaker Jorginho and four other Italians also got on the scoresheet, before Edgar Babyan got the only goal of the night for the eastern Europeans.

Finland likewise progressed from Group J, with the Huuhkajat going into their clash with Greece safe in the knowledge that they’d booked their place at the finals. They went down 2-1 in Athens in a result that had no meaningful impact on the standings.

Bosnia-Herzegovina’s 3-0 triumph away to Liechtenstein was equally meaningless in terms of qualification for the European Championships, Eldar Civic and Armin Hodzic both netting after the break to lift their nation up to fourth in the table.

Over in Spain, in-demand ​Napoli midfielder Fabian Ruiz struck his first goal at international level, whilst Gerard Moreno took his overall tally to three with a brace, having only broken his duck on Friday.

The 2010 world champions ran riot as they thrashed Romania 5-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano, Mikel Oyarzabal doubling his tally for La Roja after Adrian Rus had put through his own net.

They and Sweden will compete at the upcoming Euros, though that was assured before the pair’s final matches of Group J. Ex-​Manchester City forward John Guidetti rounded off the scoring in the latter’s 3-0 win over Faroe Islands, leaving them four points ahead of Norway.

​Bournemouth’s Joshua King hit the first for the Norwegians during a 2-1 defeat of Malta, whilst ​Crystal Palace hitman Alexander Sorloth collected their second of the night.

Here’s a full list of Monday’s results from across Euro 2020 qualifying:

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​Wales battled to a vital 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan on Saturday evening, and a Slovakia defeat helped to edge Ryan Giggs’ men ever-closer to Euro 2020 qualification.

There were plenty of talking points across Europe as the group stages head into the final stretch, so here’s 90min’s bitesize rundown of everything you might have missed.

Kieffer Moore and Harry Wilson kept the Welsh supporters’ Euro 2020 dreams alive with goals in their side’s 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan, and put Giggs’ guys back in with a shout of automatic qualification.

Elsewhere in Group E, Croatia ran out 3-1 winners over Slovakia, the hosts coming from behind to score twice in four minutes, which sealed the World Cup finalists’ place in next summer’s tournament.

Wales can qualify for Euro 2020 if they manage to beat Hungary in the final game of the group stage on Tuesday evening. 

Northern Ireland’s automatic qualification hopes suffered a fatal blow as Michael O’Neill’s men fought to a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands. Steven Davis missed a first-half penalty for the hosts. who will have to go through the playoffs if they want to take part in the summer competition.

Elsewhere in Group C, Germany cruised to a 4-0 victory over Belarus thanks to goals from Matthias Ginter, Leon Goretzka and a brace from ​Toni Kroos, securing their place at Euro 2020. 

Group winners Belgium continued their superb form throughout the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, beating second-place Russia by four goals to one, with ​Eden Hazard putting in a mesmerising display for the visitors.

The ​Real Madrid star scored twice and assisted one for his brother Thorgan, while ​Romelu Lukaku added the fourth for the Red Devils.

Scotland earned a spirited 2-1 victory away at Cyprus, John McGinn once again proving his ever-increasing value, as he provided an assist for Ryan Christie before scoring the winner eight minutes into the second half.

There were dramatic events at the home of the worst international side in the world, as San Marino scored a goal at home to Kazakhstan! Filippo Berardi bagged a late consolation. strike for the hosts, who sank to a 3-1 defeat to their visitors.

There were no surprises in Group G as the top three teams all won on Saturday evening, with Austria confirming that they will follow group leaders Poland to Euro 2020, while Slovenia may have to settle for the playoffs.

Austria earned a 2-1 victory over North Macedonia, David Alaba and Stefan Lainer giving the hosts a comfortable lead, until the visitors found the net with a late consolation goal.

Robert Lewandowski was a second-half substitute for Poland, as the Eagles ran out 2-1 winners over Israel, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Krzysztof Piątek ensuring the visitors remained top of the table, despite Moanes Dabour’s late strike for the hosts.

Slovenia defeated hapless Latvia 1-0 in the other Group G fixture, an own goal by Igors Tarasovs continuing the visitors’ losing streak. 

Here are all the results from Saturday’s Euro 2020 qualifiers.

England celebrated their 1000th game in style as they ensured qualification into this summer’s Euro 2020 tournament with an emphatic 7-0 win over a disappointing Montenegro side.

It took just ten minutes for the home side to take the lead at Wembley, courtesy of the returning Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – his first goal for the Three Lions since June 2017.

The goal was created by Ben Chilwell and the Leicester full back doubled his assist tally seven minutes when he floated in a free kick that Harry Kane headed home.

Chilwell completed an assist hat-trick in the 24th minute with Kane again nodding home one of his set pieces, this time from a corner.

Marcus Rashford made it four soon after as he smashed home the rebound after Harry Maguire’s header was saved, while Kane completed a first half hat-trick to make it 5-0 in the 37th minute.

A goalmouth scramble led to Aleksandar Sofranac putting the ball into his own net to make it 6-0 just after the hour mark, with Tammy Abraham finishing the demolition job with a seventh goal in the 84th minute.

​England

Key Talking Point

England legends such as Paul Gascoigne, Tony Adams, Wayne Rooney and er… Glen Johnson ​were all present at the Three Lions’ 1000th game tonight and Gareth Southgate’s side were sure to give them a performance to remember.

Yes, it was only against Montenegro, but as the old cliché goes: ‘you can only beat what’s put in front of you’, and the home side did so – in some style.

Key to England’s vintage display were the performances of their full-backs. Both Ben Chilwell – who registered a hat trick of assists inside 25 minutes – and Trent Alexander-Arnold were sensational.

Their never-ending overlapping runs gave inside forwards, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, more than enough room to work their magic and England looked devastating going forward.

Defensively some concerns remain. Complacency allowed the visitors a number of good opportunities in the first half with Jordan Pickford coming to the Three Lions’ rescue on a few occasions.

Still, if you can’t enjoy a 7-0 win, regardless of the circumstances, you’re probably watching the wrong sport.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Pickford (7), Alexander-Arnold (8), Maguire (7), Stones (6), Chilwell (9); Winks (8), Mount (7), Oxlade-Chamberlain (8); Sancho (7), Kane (9*), Rashford (8)

Substitutes: Maddison (6), Abraham (6), Gomez (6)

Star Man

Picking England’s best player in the midst of all this chaos was always going to be a tough task.

Chilwell had a strong claim due to his inch perfect delivery from set pieces, however in the end it had to be Kane.

The Three Lions skipper took all of his chances in typically clinical fashion with his hat-trick moving him above Frank Lampard and Alan Shearer on England’s all-time scoring list.

​​

Montenegro

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Mijatovic (7), Vesovic (3), Sofranac (4), Simic (4), Radunovic (3); Hocko (4), Lagator (3), Vukcevic (3), Jovovic (4), Haksabanovic (3); Beqiraj (2)

Substitutes: Boljevic (4), Jankovic (5), Raspopovic (5)

Looking Ahead

Next up, England travel to Kosovo, who will feel they have a point to prove after letting qualification slip through their fingers with a 2-1 loss in the Czech Republic.

Montenegro’s torrid European qualification campaign is now over but they do face the prospect of a friendly against Belarus on Tuesday.