Tottenham Hotspur’s search for a new manager came to an end when they confirmed Nuno Espírito Santo’s appointment on June 30th.
For over a month, Spurs looked at a handful of managers, as they went through the process of appointing Fabio Paratici as their new managing director of football.
Antonio Conte, Pablo Fonseca and Gennaro Gattuso were all reportedly in talks with the north London club, and one by one they all slipped away from Tottenham.
Gattuso emerged as a candidate when Spurs were in advanced talks with Fonseca, but the deal for the former never went through following a fan backlash.
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust had communicated their unhappiness to the club over the possibility of hiring the former Napoli manager, due to controversial comments made by him in the past.
La Repubblica have interviewed Gattuso and he has given his thoughts on why he failed to land the Tottenham managerial job.
“I find it hard to think that this was the reason for my failure to move to Tottenham. At the limit, their fans may have been left with the image of my fight with Jordan in 2011, who was their assistant manager at the time,” Gattuso said, as relayed by Gianluca Di Marzio.
“Me racist, sexist and homophobic? That’s not true, ask my former teammates. Only some of my statements have been misrepresented.
“My story teaches that keyboard hatred is something dangerous and underestimated. I am a public figure and I have the strength to react, but there are many other people who may not succeed and maybe throw themselves out of the window out of weakness.”
