Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has insisted that he has no time for speculation linking him with the Liverpool job but stopped short of committing his long-term future to the Lilywhites.
Having made an instant impact in North London since being hired as Antonio Conte's permanent successor, Postecoglou is said to be one of the names in the frame to take over from Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.
The Reds' long-serving head coach revealed last month that he plans to resign at the end of the season, although the owners have been aware of his intentions since November and have been working to hire a suitable replacement since then.
A recent report claimed that Tottenham were concerned about the prospect of losing Postecoglou to Liverpool, and the 58-year-old was questioned on such rumours during Friday's pre-Wolverhampton Wanderers press conference.
When asked if he is flattered by links with the Anfield post, Postecoglou - as quoted by Sky Sports News - professed that he has no interest in scouring the rumour mill, saying: "It all depends. If it is just people throwing up names then who cares? Like seriously, it doesn't matter.
"At the end of the day If I am doing a good job then it means that people will acknowledge that in one form or another, whatever that form is. So-called chat? Really? It is of no interest to me."
If Liverpool were to make an approach to hire Postecoglou over the summer, Tottenham would be due significant compensation, as the former Celtic treble winner is under contract in the English capital until the summer of 2027.
Since shaking hands on a long-term agreement with Daniel Levy, Postecoglou has been lauded for transforming Tottenham into a high-pressing attacking machine following the conservative styles of Conte and Jose Mourinho, whose reigns ended acrimoniously.
However, the Australian is refusing to look too far ahead into the future and simply stressed his desire to end the 2023-24 season in the best possible way, although he believes that Tottenham still have "a long way to go" before they can be fully satisfied with the look of their team.
"The reality of it is that most of it is out of our hands. So I have never worried or thought about that. I have a history of 26 years of management where you can see pretty clear what I do," Postecoglou added.
"I rely on that as my explanation as to where my thought processes are when it comes to those sort of things. Right now it is about finishing the season strong with Tottenham and making sure we establish a strong foundation for who we want to be in years to come. That can only happen if I am totally focused on what these 14 games can bring for us.
"I am at pains to say that we still have a long way to go in terms of the football we want to play, the team we want to be and the squad we want to have. We've only had two positive windows, had a decent campaign so far but we have a long way to go."
Postecoglou has achieved 15 wins, five draws and seven defeats from 27 matches in the Tottenham hotseat and took 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League fixtures, a new record for a manager during their first campaign in the competition.
However, Tottenham - who sit fourth in the Premier League table - are likely to end the season without a trophy for the 16th year running, having been eliminated from the EFL Cup and FA Cup by Fulham and Manchester City respectively.
Postecoglou is not thought to be Liverpool's first choice for a new manager - that honour belongs to Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso - but Bayern Munich and Barcelona could rival Liverpool for the Spaniard's services this summer. body check tags ::
