Tottenham Hotspur finally have a new manager. Hurrah!
After more than a month of rumours and efforts, Spurs have announced the arrival of Nuno Espirito Santo, who left Wolves at the end of last season.
Attention at the Premier League can now turn to shaping the squad for the new season, and there’s a good chance Nuno’s agent, Jorge Mendes, will be on hand to offer all the assistance that will be accepted.
Over in the Netherlands, there’s been a little reveal on what happened with Erik ten Hag and Tottenham. The Ajax coach had been repeatedly linked with the club earlier this summer, before he signed a new contract with the Eredivisie side.
There was never great concern in the Dutch media about Ajax potentially losing their manager, even when he was favourite with English bookmakers.
Valentijn Driessen, chief football writer for De Telegraaf, has explained that Ten Hag likely ruined his chances during an interview with Spurs.
Quoted by Voetbal Zone, he explained Tottenham were left shocked when Ten Hag told them he had no plans to bring a backroom team with him: “Which they found very strange at Spurs , and we think it is very normal in the Netherlands that if you get a trainer you only get one trainer, but with the English you get a whole staff: a physiotherapist, doctor, assistant trainer, goalkeeper coach.
“You just enter there with a whole group. So they also asked him: who are you taking with you? Yes, nobody. They don’t know that there. He wanted Sjors Ultee, that name had also been mentioned. But you normally go there with a whole group.”
Driessen says Ten Hag didn’t make a strong impression on Spurs, and it would appear the process didn’t go any further.
