Tottenham have been advised to steer clear of Jose Mourinho, with Dimitar Berbatov urging patience with Mauricio Pochettino.

Questions are being asked of a coach in north London who has overseen impressive progress during a five-year reign.

Spurs have become top-four regulars in the Premier League and Champions League finalists, but some are wondering whether an Argentine tactician has taken the club as far as he can.

Pochettino’s stock remains high, with links to Manchester United and Real Madrid never far away, but it has been suggested that his interest is waning at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Berbatov hopes that is not the case, especially as some of those being mooted as potential successors would not be the right fit.

Former Chelsea and United boss Mourinho has been touted for another role in English football, but former Spurs striker Berbatov wants to see faith shown in the man currently calling the shots.

He told Betfair: “There has been a lot of talk about Jose Mourinho taking over at Spurs.

“As a coach that has been there at the top of his game for so long and has been in every kind of situation, I think he could have the answers for some of the difficulties Spurs are facing. But would he make them better?

“I don’t know because it is the same team, yes you can have a bit of a lift in the beginning, like Manchester United did when [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer came in, but then you need to keep going, otherwise you are going to slip into a spiral.

“For me though, Pochettino needs to stay there, he’s been there for a long time.

“I remember Sir Alex Ferguson telling us a team needs to be changed when four years passes, not the whole team, but some players.

“After four years, some players start to get complacent and they aren’t challenged anymore, they are in with the manager and they are comfortable, so a manager needs to shake things up and bring in new players.

“This could be the case with Spurs, a lot of the players have been there a long time and maybe they need to shake things up and try to push the players in a way.”

Change would appear to be on the way for Tottenham, with uncertainty shrouding the futures of a number of experienced performers.

Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen are into the final 12 months of their respective contracts, while transfer talk continues to surround the likes of Danny Rose, Eric Dier and Serge Aurier.