The Great Spurs Fire Sale: 15 Players Facing the Exit if Tottenham Drop Down

Igor Tudor's arrival at Tottenham this week marked another twist in a season spiralling toward catastrophe. The former Juventus manager has taken the reins on an interim basis until the campaign's end, following the sacking of Thomas Frank, but his temporary status tells you everything about the club's predicament.

Tudor's managerial CV hardly screams stability. His longest stint anywhere lasted from April 2013 to February 2015 at Hajduk Split in Croatia, where he claimed the Croatian Cup—his sole major honour to date. The expectation at Spurs is that he'll be gone by summer, with the club already plotting his permanent successor.

The Lilywhites currently languish in 16th place, a single point above Leeds United, who themselves only climbed out of the Championship last season. With West Ham lurking just five points adrift in 18th, the spectre of genuine relegation danger looms large. A pair of wins under Tudor's watch could conceivably drag Spurs clear of the mire, but the margin for error remains paper-thin.

Should the unthinkable happen and Tottenham tumble into the second tier, The Athletic reckons the club needn't panic entirely. The report suggests Spurs would retain sufficient pull to attract Premier League suitors and European interest for their better assets.

That list of potential departures is a roster of the club's most prized commodities: Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Djed Spence, Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Kevin Danso, Conor Gallagher, Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, Xavi Simons, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and Dominic Solanke would all likely seek pastures new.

Meanwhile, former Everton chief Keith Wyness believes Tottenham's hierarchy is already cosying up to Mauricio Pochettino, eyeing his return as permanent manager once the United States exit the World Cup. Describing Tudor as "the Croatian Sam Allardyce," Wyness told Football Insider that such a move would provide the stability the Lewis group requires to back a manager with genuine pedigree and deliver results. It's a theory that makes sense: Tudor as the caretaker, Pochettino as the long-term solution. Whether it comes to pass depends entirely on whether Spurs can claw their way to safety first.