Poyet’s in frame for United job: Gus is leading candidate to be Fergie's No2

Gus Poyet is emerging as a leading candidate to replace Carlos Queiroz as Sir Alex Ferguson's No2 at Manchester United.

The Tottenham assistant manager was surprised when reports linking him with a move to Old Trafford emerged earlier this month after Queiroz accepted the job as head coach of the Portugal national team.

But Poyet has now been informed through third parties that he is on Ferguson's shortlist and has signalled his willingness to consider another move less than a year after he suddenly left Leeds to become Juande Ramos's right-hand man at White Hart Lane.

The former Chelsea and Tottenham player has forged a reputation as an excellent coach whose acumen is matched by his rapport with players.

Ferguson is in desperate need of someone with those skills, plus Poyet's ability to speak a number of languages, to fill the gap left by Queiroz.

Ferguson said: 'We're not in a hurry to appoint his successor - when you lose good men you have to take your time before you start thinking about filling the position. Hopefully Carlos will not be too big a loss. He did some great work but I think we have very good coaches at the club and will cope.

'I had planned to take a week off every now and then, but that's out of the window. I'll have to do a lot more having to bed a new assistant in. Obviously we will miss having Carlos to deal with the different languages and he was instrumental in discovering the likes of Nani and Anderson.

'We got into Portuguese football at the right time - whether there are any more, I'm sure we will find out. We're well in control of knowledge of players. We have increased our scouts in many countries.'

Another strong contender for the job, Bordeaux manager and former United player Laurent Blanc, has said he wants to stay with his club for the coming season at least. Poyet is on Ferguson's radar to allow the interim assistants - Mike Phelan and Brian McClair - to return to their normal responsibilities.

For Poyet's part, much is thought to depend on Tottenham's response to the imminent departure of their leading strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane, although last night Ferguson threatened to abandon his attempt to sign Berbatov after Tottenham Hotspur's asking price rocketed to well beyond £30million.

United are understood to have been forced to examine other transfer options because of the intransigence of the White Hart Lane negotiators.

If Spurs succeed in bringing in high calibre replacements - Samuel Eto'o, David Villa, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin have all been mentioned - it would give Poyet some cause for thought about staying.