It appears that the long strange trip that’s been the Tottenham Hotspur managerial search is about to come to an end. Former AS Roma coach Paulo Fonseca has agreed a deal in principle to take the job, The Guardian reported on Monday.
So Tottenham is replacing one Portugese coach with another, and their former manager, Jose Mourinho, took the Roma job. So in reality it’s like the two clubs could have just traded managers. Also, the previous front-runner for the job, Antonio Conte, replaced Mourinho when he was sacked a second time at Chelsea.
Wait, we’re not yet done with the weirdness. Along the way, Tottenham strongly considered bringing back the last manager they had before Mourinho, in Mauricio Pochettino, but Paris Saint-Germain simply wasn’t having any of that.
The Fonseca hiring is another personnel move with Serie A ties.
Over the weekend, Tottenham announced the hire of new club director Fabio Paratici, who was previously with Juventus. Paratici got this deal, which could be officially announced as soon as Wednesday, closed. The Guardian writes:
“The move to appoint Conte, who departed Inter despite taking them to the Serie A title, broke down as Spurs became concerned over the Italian’s demands and whether he would commit to blooding young players.”
From that sentence, it sounds like a rebuild is coming to Spurs. And if that is the case, it sounds like the chances of retaining Harry Kane are minimal then. Obviously, the future of Kane is of paramount concern for anybody taking the managerial gig.
The report goes on to say that Fonseca’s deal will be for three years.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.