Tottenham have sensationally replaced Mauricio Pochettino with Jose Mourinho to end months of uncertainty about their managerial position.

Doubts about Pochettino's future have lingered all season amid tensions between the Argentinian and chairman Daniel Levy, and also the manager and some of his players.

As reported by Sportsmail in October, Spurs' players had feared Pochettino was looking for a way out and cut an unusually distant figure at the training ground this season.

Mauricio Pochettino's departure from Tottenham has been a month in the pipeline

He was sacked on Tuesday night, with his successor Jose Mourinho unveiled on Wednesday

The Argentine has cut an unusually distant figure on the training ground in recent weeks

Meanwhile, he had openly aired his frustrations over the club's transfer dealings since the summer, with clear-the-air talks with Levy in August required to ease the tensions.

They made little difference. Following Tottenham's 3-0 thumping at Brighton, which came off the back of their humiliating 7-2 home defeat to Bayern Munich at the start of October, the picture changed.

Sources have told Sportsmail that it was 'clear that things were at an end' by that point, that Levy's relationship with Pochettino had broken down beyond repair and that it was only about how they parted ways, with the manager's compensation the major stumbling block.

Spurs and Pochettino limped on for another month but only won twice against Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.

Pochettino and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy celebrate their Champions League final progress

But things became decidedly frosty between the pair as they haggled over compensation

POCHETTINO'S EXIT: HOW SPORTSMAIL BROKE THE STORY Sportsmail reported back in October that Mourinho was hopeful of becoming Tottenham's manager - CLICK HERE to read what we said. On Monday night, Sportsmail duo Sami Mokbel and Adrian Kajumba exclusively revealed that the end was near for Mauricio Pochettino - CLICK HERE to read the article in full. Spurs visit West Ham on Saturday but there was already a backdrop of uncertainty over the Argentine's future, with sources claiming private discussions over an exit strategy had taken place. These were confirmed on Tuesday evening when he was sacked. The headline for Sportsmail's exclusive story on Pochettino's future on Monday Advertisement

The 1-1 home draw against Sheffield United before the international break was the final straw and convinced Levy that he had to make a change to salvage Tottenham's Premier League campaign, with the north Londoners' languishing in 14th.

Levy enquired about Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers but was told prising him away from the King Power Stadium would be impossible, so he turned instead to Mourinho.

As revealed by Sportsmail early in October, the Spurs job was one that Mourinho was holding out for as he plotted his return to football after being sacked by Manchester United in December.

Mourinho's eagerness ensured landing him would be much more straightforward than trying to get Rodgers.

Spurs also decided Julian Nagelsmann, RB Leipzig's impressive, rising young manager would be too hard to land now, having only moved clubs in the summer.

Discreet talks with Mourinho that had been going on since last month ended successfully with a deal being agreed in principle at the start of last week.

Tottenham players looked dejected during their 1-1 home draw with Sheffield United

The home draw with the Blades proved to be Pochettino's last match in charge of the club

At the same time Spurs chiefs were also trying to finalise Pochettino's exit. The two parties failed to do so last week, with Pochettino wanting his full pay-out and Levy refusing.

But, as revealed by Sportsmail, word that it was now only a matter of time before they went their separate ways had already got out.

Pochettino was still set to go into Saturday's clash with West Ham under greater pressure than the also under-fire Manuel Pellegrini, despite being right on the brink.

Tottenham enquired about Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers but were rebuffed

Spurs also decided against an approach for the young RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann

SPURS FIXTURES Premier League unless stated November 23 West Ham (A) November 26 Olympiacos (H) - Champions League November 30 Bournemouth (H) December 4 Manchester United (A) December 7 Burnley (H) December 11 Bayern Munich (A) - Champions League December 15 Wolves (A) December 22 Chelsea (H) Advertisement

Pochettino and Levy reconvened for more talks over his settlement on Monday.

This time his termination package and sacking was all sorted out.

But sources have claimed that tensions boiled over between the pair during their final discussions at the training ground.

Pochettino's exit was not officially confirmed for almost 24 hours, at 7.30pm on Tuesday, much to the shock of the players he was leaving behind.

They had no idea he was about to pay the ultimate price for Spurs's struggles this season.

A suited and booted Jose Mourinho poses for his official unveiling photoshoot at Tottenham

Pochettino was sacked on Tuesday night and swiftly replaced by Mourinho on Wednesday

Mourinho will need to kick-start Tottenham's season after a poor start under Pochettino

Pochettino's contract was officially terminated on Tuesday morning and he wasted no time clearing his office.

Less than 12 hours after the announcement that left fans stunned, Mourinho, who had been on standby for some time and whose arrival was also unexpected by Spurs's players, was already at the club's state-of-the-art Enfield training ground ready to start work.

The players were originally due to train on Wednesday morning but that session was put back until the afternoon when they will work under their new manager for the first time.