Text from the Athletic
Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on the appointment of Gennaro Gattuso as Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor after talks with Paulo Fonseca collapsed after days of negotiations.
Fabio Paratici, Tottenham’s new managing director, had been speaking to Fonseca about the role but this week the club pulled out of negotiations and turned their focus on Gattuso, who surprisingly walked away from Fiorentina this morning before he had even officially started in the job.
Paratici had spoken to Gattuso at the end of last season about coming into the Juventus role after Andrea Pirlo, back when Paratici was still working for the Turin giants.
The move marks yet another dramatic u-turn in an eventful summer for Tottenham. Since Paratici took control of the head coach search at the start of this month, Spurs have tried to appoint Antonio Conte, only for the Italian to pull out after talks, before then speaking to Fonseca after the Portuguese manager was dismissed by Roma.
Fonseca had been the leading candidate for the job over the last week but after lengthy talks between Fonseca and Paratici in Italy, Tottenham decided to walk away. Reports in Italy have attributed this to “fiscal problems” but The Athletic understands it was Tottenham’s decision, and that money was not the decisive factor.
If Tottenham can complete the deal for Gattuso, it will mark the end of a two-month process in which Tottenham have moved between different candidates before finally settling on Gattuso.
At various points Hansi Flick and Erik Ten Hag were leading candidates before Tottenham even re-opened talks with former manager Mauricio Pochettino, currently at PSG, only for the French club to refuse to countenance him going back to north London.
After the Pochettino move collapsed, Levy moved to bring in Paratici from Juventus to be his new managing director, overseeing all football matters at the club. He took control of the head coach search and spoke to Conte and Fonseca before dramatically settling this week on Gattuso, who memorably clashed with Tottenham’s former assistant manager Joe Jordan during the club’s 2010-11 Champions League campaign.
Gattuso was given a four-game suspension for, in UEFA’s words, “assaulting Jordan after the match”.
But Gattuso is a very different coach to who he was a player. While discipline is high on his list of priorities, he is empathetic and built great team spirit at AC Milan and Napoli.
The 43-year-old from Calabria developed those people skills working under Carlo Ancelotti, whose Champions League winning teams have produced numerous managers.
Gattuso did not begin coaching with a silver spoon in his mouth. He started under combustible owners at difficult clubs like Sion, Palermo and OFI Crete before returning to Italy to work in Pisa, who he got promoted to the second tier.
The World Cup winner earned respect for how he kept things together while the club leered from one financial crisis to another and settled on working for Milan’s Under-19s before stepping up to replace Vincenzo Montella upon his dismissal from the first team post.
Gattuso missed out on qualifying for the Champions League by a point but left with his head held high. At Napoli he built on his reputation winning the Coppa Italia and beating Italy’s top sides.
The football this season was stylish and Napoli scored lots of goals, breaking with Gattuso’s reputation as a defensive-minded coach. But a fall-out with the hierarchy at Napoli meant a contract extension went unsigned and he made the switch to Fiorentina only 23 days ago.
For Gattuso to be on the verge of becoming Tottenham’s new boss on the same day as his separation from the Viola is a reminder of how fast things can change in football, particularly given claims that the reason for the split was a difference on opinion on recruitment and the influence of Gattuso’s agent, Jorge Mendes.
Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on the appointment of Gennaro Gattuso as Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor after talks with Paulo Fonseca collapsed after days of negotiations.
Fabio Paratici, Tottenham’s new managing director, had been speaking to Fonseca about the role but this week the club pulled out of negotiations and turned their focus on Gattuso, who surprisingly walked away from Fiorentina this morning before he had even officially started in the job.
Paratici had spoken to Gattuso at the end of last season about coming into the Juventus role after Andrea Pirlo, back when Paratici was still working for the Turin giants.
The move marks yet another dramatic u-turn in an eventful summer for Tottenham. Since Paratici took control of the head coach search at the start of this month, Spurs have tried to appoint Antonio Conte, only for the Italian to pull out after talks, before then speaking to Fonseca after the Portuguese manager was dismissed by Roma.
Fonseca had been the leading candidate for the job over the last week but after lengthy talks between Fonseca and Paratici in Italy, Tottenham decided to walk away. Reports in Italy have attributed this to “fiscal problems” but The Athletic understands it was Tottenham’s decision, and that money was not the decisive factor.
If Tottenham can complete the deal for Gattuso, it will mark the end of a two-month process in which Tottenham have moved between different candidates before finally settling on Gattuso.
At various points Hansi Flick and Erik Ten Hag were leading candidates before Tottenham even re-opened talks with former manager Mauricio Pochettino, currently at PSG, only for the French club to refuse to countenance him going back to north London.
After the Pochettino move collapsed, Levy moved to bring in Paratici from Juventus to be his new managing director, overseeing all football matters at the club. He took control of the head coach search and spoke to Conte and Fonseca before dramatically settling this week on Gattuso, who memorably clashed with Tottenham’s former assistant manager Joe Jordan during the club’s 2010-11 Champions League campaign.
Gattuso was given a four-game suspension for, in UEFA’s words, “assaulting Jordan after the match”.
But Gattuso is a very different coach to who he was a player. While discipline is high on his list of priorities, he is empathetic and built great team spirit at AC Milan and Napoli.
The 43-year-old from Calabria developed those people skills working under Carlo Ancelotti, whose Champions League winning teams have produced numerous managers.
Gattuso did not begin coaching with a silver spoon in his mouth. He started under combustible owners at difficult clubs like Sion, Palermo and OFI Crete before returning to Italy to work in Pisa, who he got promoted to the second tier.
The World Cup winner earned respect for how he kept things together while the club leered from one financial crisis to another and settled on working for Milan’s Under-19s before stepping up to replace Vincenzo Montella upon his dismissal from the first team post.
Gattuso missed out on qualifying for the Champions League by a point but left with his head held high. At Napoli he built on his reputation winning the Coppa Italia and beating Italy’s top sides.
The football this season was stylish and Napoli scored lots of goals, breaking with Gattuso’s reputation as a defensive-minded coach. But a fall-out with the hierarchy at Napoli meant a contract extension went unsigned and he made the switch to Fiorentina only 23 days ago.
For Gattuso to be on the verge of becoming Tottenham’s new boss on the same day as his separation from the Viola is a reminder of how fast things can change in football, particularly given claims that the reason for the split was a difference on opinion on recruitment and the influence of Gattuso’s agent, Jorge Mendes.