Gennaro Gattuso “closing in” on Tottenham Hotspur role

By Ben Browning


Published: June 17, 2021 4:28 pm

Last Updated: June 17, 2021 4:33 pm

Whirlwind day

It’s been a whirlwind few hours for both Gennaro Gattuso and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Italian boss had agreed to take over at Fiorentina until this morning, when the club announced that the agreement made between the two had been terminated, just weeks after being appointed.

According to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, this was due to “problems on transfers strategy”, most likely involving the role of renowned super-agent Jorge Mendes.

Gennaro Gattuso is set to leave Fiorentina with immediate effect just 20 days after he’s been appointed, confirmed. ❌? #Fiorentina

Problems on transfers strategy between Fiorentina board, Gattuso’s agent Jorge Mendes and Gennaro himself. They’re now working to part ways. https://t.co/iiXPKhx1uC

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 16, 2021

Mendes enjoys having control over transfer decisions at a club, as he has shown at Wolverhampton Wanderers, who he worked with during Nuno Espirito Santo’s tenure. The agent was responsible for the signings of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Daniel Podence among others.

However, it appears that Tottenham, unlike Fiorentina, are willing to accept this baggage and have reportedly made Gattuso their new top choice, although how far up their original list of candidates he was remains unclear.

“Gennaro Gattuso is now the favourite for the job.”

Here’s the latest on #THFC‘s search for a new manager after talks with Paulo Fonseca broke down…?⬇ pic.twitter.com/CFwkpJky9k

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 17, 2021

Gattuso is Paratici’s choice

According to Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold, Gattuso was always the top choice of Fabio Paratici, who joined the club as director of football last week. However, he was not available until he parted ways with la Viola this morning, which prompted Spurs to change tack.

So as I understand it (but let’s be honest it could change again because it’s Spurs) Gennaro Gattuso was Fabio Paratici’s preferred choice and he wanted him at Juventus before he left, but he wasn’t available for Tottenham. (Contd)

— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) June 17, 2021

So Fonseca became the available top choice. Everything was agreed between him and Spurs. Even yesterday they were sorting stuff for his visa and all the administrative stuff. Paratici and Fonseca had meetings this week in Milan and Como, to prepare for the season ahead.(contd)

— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) June 17, 2021

Everything was going through. Then Gattuso left Fiorentina today and everything has gone haywire and Spurs have now switched their attentions to him. Fonseca’s people are completely bewildered (sound familiar). A day in the life of covering Tottenham for you there.

— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) June 17, 2021

The Lilywhites have already had talks break down with Antonio Conte and Mauricio Pochettino, but had seemingly settled on Paulo Fonseca as their main target. All this has now been thrown out of the window.

This certainly sets an interesting dynamic, with ex-boss Jose Mourinho having been Daniel Levy’s choice. It is unclear how Levy feels about the appointment, yet it seems that it has mainly been driven by the incoming man, which could cause friction down the line.

Throw a superagent used to getting his own way into the mix, and things could get very messy very quickly in the white half of North London.

Read more:

Youngster Fabio Vieira of interest to Liverpool after impressive tournament

Gattuso steps down as Fiorentina boss just 2 weeks after appointment due to discrepancy in ‘transfer strategies’

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