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Lille manager Paulo Fonseca has hinted Fabio Paratici’s arrival at Tottenham Hotspur in June 2021 blocked his move to the north London club.

Spurs had sacked José Mourinho in April 2021 and were looking for a new manager in the summer of that year. Foneseca, who was then without a club since leaving AS Roma, was identified as the target.

Tottenham eventually ended up appointing Nuno Espírito Santo in June 2021, more than two weeks after Paratici joined the Premier League side.

RMC Sport have a podcast, JOGA, dedicated to Portuguese football and Fonseca was their latest guest. He has been in charge at Lille since the summer of 2022. The 49-year-old was specifically asked whether he was close to joining the English club in 2021.

“After my departure from Roma, everything was closed, everything was almost finalised, but there was the arrival of a new general manager who opted for another coach. It was done at the last moment but that’s football. It’s a matter of choice,” he said.

Spurs sacked Nuno Espírito Santo a few months into the 2021/22 season and appointed Antonio Conte as his successor. The Italian has been in charge of the Premier League side since then but his long-term future there remains uncertain.

Conte’s contract expires in June and Tottenham have an option to extend it by 12 months.

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