Tottenham Hotspur are on the verge of appointing Paulo Fonseca as José Mourinho’s permanent successor.
Prior to that, Spurs looked at various candidates and among them was Julen Lopetegui.
Last week, Estadio Deportivo reported Sevilla side are ‘not afraid’ of the recent reports linking their coach to the north London club.
According to Marca, the Premier League side ‘knocked on the door’ for the former Real Madrid manager.
This was reported by The Sunday Times and the Spanish newspaper has been able to confirm these claims. It’s claimed Spurs were ready to pay the manager’s €5m release clause to take him away from Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.
Lopetegui’s ‘response was direct’ to the English club’s approach, and he made it clear to them he was ‘staying at Sevilla’.
Apart from the manager making his stance clear, Sevilla president José Castro Carmona has also issued a warning to Tottenham and other clubs interested in Lopetegui.
“There is a good coach here, but he is ours. He knows what happened when he arrived and the effort, we made with the decision to bring him in. We are happy with him and he is [happy] with us. He is happy at Sevilla,” the club’s chief told Marca.
