Tottenham have been on a heck of a journey trying to find their new manager, and it will not be Paulo Fonseca according to multiple reports.
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Our partners at Sky in Italy have reported that Tottenham and Fonseca could not agree on the financials on his contract, as the former Shakhtar Donetsk and Roma manager will not take over in north London.
It is believed that Daniel Levy and Spurs were not willing to negotiate further with Fonseca and have called off the deal.
Here are more details from Sky Sports.
“According to Sky in Italy, Spurs had verbally agreed terms with Fonseca over a two-year deal with an option for a further year, but could not close the deal due to fiscal problems.
“Gennaro Gattuso, who left Fiorentina on Thursday only 23 days after having signed on as manager, is now a leading candidate for the job.”
Gattuso the favorite
The AC Milan legend has done a very good job at both Milan and then Napoli, as he put the building blocks in place for Milan’s relative success last season.
At Napoli he just missed out on leading them to the top four and won silverware with the Italian Cup in 2019-20, and the fiery former midfielder could be just the type of character Spurs need to push them over the edge towards winning trophies.
Then again, most people said that about Jose Mourinho.
Gattuso just left his job suddenly at Fiorentina, after just 23 days in charge, so something has to be going on here (aside from issues with their plans for recruitment) for him to do that.
What now for Spurs?
The fact Tottenham are in this position just three weeks before preseason is due to begin is tough to figure out.
Daniel Levy fired Mourinho in April and put Ryan Mason in interim charge, as Spurs finished in seventh place and secured a spot in the Europa Conference League as a hugely talented squad underachieved badly.
Since the end of the season the likes of Antonio Conte and Fonseca have both been close to being hired, while new managing director of football, Fabio Paratici, has been hired in recent weeks to oversee the process.
That could explain the delay in bringing in a new manager, but the fact that the likes of Brendan Rodgers, Mauricio Pochettino, Erik ten Hag and Maurizio Sarri have all been linked with the job, but nobody seems that interested in taking on the role, tells the story. The expectations at Spurs may be too high.
It’s now back to the drawing board as Gattuso seems to be the main, or perhaps only, contender.
