Tottenham appoint Nuno Espirito Santo as new manager
Martin Macdonald
- 30 Jun 2021 20:49 BST
- 3 min read
Tottenham have confirmed former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo as their new manager.
Spurs have been on the lookout for a new manager in North London ever since dismissing Jose Mourinho in April after a drop down the Premier League table and concerns over his playing style.
Several names were linked with the Tottenham job and even interviewed, with Antonio Conte, Paulo Fonseca and Gennaro Gattuso all coming close to being appointed.
Negotiations with that trio led the club to go back to the drawing board, and they eventually pursued Nuno, who was out of work after leaving Wolves at the conclusion of the 2020/21 season.
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The popular Portuguese took over Wolves in the Championship and guided them to promotion, with the club now being one of the established teams in the division.
He would eventually leave by mutual consent.
Speaking on his appointment, Nuno said:
“When you have a squad with quality and talent, we want to make the fans proud and enjoy.
"It’s an enormous pleasure and honour (to be here), there’s joy and I’m happy and looking forward to starting work.
"We don’t have any days to lose and we must start working immediately as pre-season starts in a few days.”
The Tottenham reaction
Both chairman Daniel Levy and newly-confirmed Managing Director of Football Fabio Paratici spoke of their delight at the appointment.
“First of all, I’d like to welcome Nuno to the Club," Levy said on the official Spurs website.
Looking good, boss. 😎#WelcomeNuno pic.twitter.com/SdxXNnsZFs
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 30, 2021
"We should like to thank our supporters for all their patience throughout this process.
"I’ve spoken already about the need to revert back to our core DNA of playing attacking, entertaining football and Fabio and I believe Nuno is the man who can take our talented group of players, embrace our young players coming through and build something special.”
Paratici echoed those comments, saying:
“The brief for this appointment has always been clear, we wanted a Head Coach that can instil all the values that are important to this Football Club.
"You only have to look at Nuno’s time at Wolves to see his ability to take a group of players and implement an adaptive style that brings success and allows players to develop and thrive.
"We are all looking forward to getting started in what we hope will be a successful time with the Club.”
