Juande Ramos, the Seville coach, confirmed today that he received a “dizzying” offer to take charge at Tottenham Hotspur but that he never considered accepting the approach from the North London club.

Ramos made the revelation at a news conference this morning as he confirmed he would be staying put in Spain until the end of the season, when his contract expires.

“They [Tottenham] made an excellent, dizzying offer, but I’m under contract and my decision is to fulfil it,” Ramos said. “There was not the slightest possibility that I would accept it because I’m under contract. It did not interest me or the club.

“I wasn’t in a meeting with anyone, what happened was that I met with a person and that person went on to meet other people who were surely Tottenham.”

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Unless Ramos changes his mind overnight, it will be difficult to find a top-drawer replacement for Jol

Gabriele Marcotti

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Despite his statement, the man who guided Seville to two Uefa Cup triumphs will continue to be linked with the Tottenham job, especially after Spurs gave a very public vote of confidence to current manager Martin Jol yesterday.

Spurs, meanwhile, today denied offering Ramos the job. A club statement said: “No individual was or has been offered the position of manager/coach at this club while that position has been held by Martin Jol.”

Tottenham officials met Ramos last week in Spain, which has been explained as a private matter and just a coincidence that officials from the club happened to be in the same hotel after they were pictured together by some newspapers at the weekend.

Jol held talks with the Spurs board yesterday and admitted afterwards that the pressure is now on him to deliver Champions League football this season.

“The last two seasons we have finished fifth and this season we start with an even better team,” said the Dutchman. “So we should be optimistic. Yes, it is pressure to deliver, but that is what we managers should expect.”

Jol spent around £40 million on players during the summer but lost to Sunderland and Everton in the opening four days of the season, which led to the speculation over his future, which has not dimmed despite a 4-0 hammering of Derby County last Saturday.

Even so, Graham Roberts, the former Tottenham player, thinks that his old club will ultimately get the Spaniard. “I don’t think they will give up on Ramos, it’s whether they can afford him and make him an offer he can’t refuse,” Roberts said.

“If they can get Ramos then I think it would be a great forward move, but let’s give Martin a chance and hopefully he will turn it around.”

The speculation about Ramos's future has come just days before the start of the Spanish season, but the 52-year-old coach insists he has taken it all in his stride.

"I am very calm because there is still a lot of time left until June 2008. My future will be looked at in June 2008 and I have not been unsettled by anything that has been talked about. I am totally calm," Ramos said on the Sevilla website.

"The same thing always happens with successful teams. In this team they talk about Daniel [Alves], about [Frederic] Kanoute, about me ... This happens when a team is doing well and you need to accept it."

Sevilla, who under Ramos have won two Uefa Cups, the Uefa Super Cup, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, host Getafe on Saturday in their opening Primera Liga fixture.