Levy has been plotting Pochettino exit for A MONTH before it all ended (Mail)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.