Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the appointment of former Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino as their new head coach.

Pochettino, 42, succeeds the sacked Tim Sherwood, signing a five-year contract.

The former Argentina international has been hugely successful in his first job in English football, taking Southampton from the lower reaches of the Premier League to an eighth-place finish last term.

Speaking to the club’s website, chairman Daniel Levy said: "In Mauricio I believe we have a head coach who, with his high energy, attacking football, will embrace the style of play we associate with our club.

“He has a proven ability to develop each player as an individual, whilst building great team spirit and a winning mentality.

Commenting on his appointment, Pochettino said: "This is a club with tremendous history and prestige and I am honoured to have been given this opportunity to be its head coach.

"There is an abundance of top-class talent at the club and I am looking forward to starting work with the squad.

"Tottenham Hotspur has a huge following across the world and I have great admiration for the passion the fans show for this team. We are determined to give the supporters the kind of attacking football and success that we are all looking to achieve."

Appointed as Saints boss after being sacked by Espanyol, the former centre-half dragged the south coast outfit up the table whilst cultivating an attractive brand of football and developing a number of the club's home-grown talents.

Whilst brought into the first-team by his predecessor at St Marys, Nigel Adkins, the likes of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse have all thrived in key roles under Pochettino.

Academy graduates such as Sam Gallagher and Callum Chambers have also been handed chances under the guidance of the Murphy-born coach.

Pochettino's playing career began in his home country with Newell's Old Boys, where he spent five years until 1994 when he moved to Europe to join Espanyol.

Six years with Espanyol brought over 200 appearances before Pochettino moved to Ligue 1 side Paris St. Germain.

A year at Bordeaux preceded a season-long loan return to Espanyol before Pochettino returned to the Catalonian club on a permanent basis, seeing out the last two years of his career before retiring in 2006.

Appointed as Espanyol's first-team coach in 2009, Pochettino assumed the role with the club third-bottom of the La Liga standings, guiding the Periquitos to a tenth-place finish in his first season.

Eleventh and eighth-place finishes followed before he was sacked in November 2012 with Espanyol having made a poor start to the season.

In January 2013, Pochettino succeed Adkins at St. Mary's and guided the Saints to the safety of 14th in his first season before building on that this term.

Pochettino oversaw 60 matches as Southampton manager, winning 23, drawing 18 and losing 19.

He is joined by Jesús Pérez (assistant head coach), Miguel D'Agostino (first team coach) and Toni Jiménez (goalkeeper coach), all of whom have worked at Espanyol and Southampton previously.