At Tottenham Hotspur, everything has changed at boardroom level.
Last month, it was announced that Daniel Levy would be stepping down as the club’s executive chairman after a quarter of a century.
Levy has certainly divided opinion among Spurs supporters, but he will forever be one of the most influential figures in the club’s history, overseeing the construction of a new training ground and stadium, and propelling the club into the ‘big six’, something that would have been a pipe dream just a decade ago.
Peter Charrington has now been appointed as non-executive chairman, while former Arsenal player Vinay Venkatesham was appointed chief executive in April.
It will be interesting to see what these changes mean for Spurs going forward, but this week saw another notable appointment, or should I say reappointment.
Fabio Paratici returns to Tottenham
Earlier this week, it was announced that Fabio Paratici would be returning to Tottenham Hotspur as sporting director.
He previously held the position from June 2021 to April 2023, but was given a 30-month ban from all football activities by FIFA and was one of 11 Juventus executives to receive similar punishments following the Plubarenze scandal, who also received an 18-month suspended sentence.
Nevertheless, BBC Sport’s Sami Mokbel believes his reappointment is a major coup given his excellent reputation, which boasts “one of the most extensive connections in the industry”.
Paratici has been appointed co-sporting director alongside Johan Lange. “I am confident that working together with Johan we can build a special future for the club and our supporters.”
The table below records all the players Paratici signed when he was first on the scene.
Paratici signing at Tottenham | ||
|---|---|---|
player | commission | spurs app |
brian gill | £21.6 million | 43 |
Pape Matar Saal | £14.6 million | 113 |
emerson royal | £25.8 million | 101 |
Rodrigo Bentancur | £15.9 million | one two three |
Christian Romero | £42 million | 133 |
Dejan Kruszewski | £30 million | 146 |
Pierluigi Golini | loan | 10 |
clement lenglet | loan | 35 |
Pedro Polo | £40 million | 116 |
Arnaut Danjuma | loan | 12 |
fraser foster | free | 34 |
Ivan Perisic | free | 50 |
Eve Bissouma | £25 million | 100 |
Jed Spence | £19m | 51 |
Richarlison | £60 million | 101 |
Destiny Udogie | £15 million | 74 |
All information via Transfermarkt | ||
As noted in the table, many of Paratici’s signings with Spurs had little impact in north London. Brian Gill, I’m looking at you!
However, other players remain key figures in Thomas Frank’s team to this day, including Richarlison, Cristian Romero, Destiny Oudogui, Papu Matar Sarr, Rodrygo Bentancur and Destiny Oudogui.
But Paratici feels he made the right decision to sign him, especially since the player was notoriously not wanted by then-manager Antonio Conte.
Biggest win for Paratici in the transfer market
Back in July 2022, Jed Spence joined Tottenham Hotspur for a reported fee of £19 million.
The full-back was an integral part of Nottingham Forest’s promotion-winning side during a highly memorable loan spell from Middlesbrough, with The Athletic’s Daniel Taylor describing him as the best loanee he had seen at the City Ground.
Nevertheless, upon his arrival, manager Conte immediately labeled him a “club investment” and “not my contract”, with Spence later revealing that “my confidence was shattered”.
“Spence is an investment for the club. That’s what the club wanted. I said, ‘Okay, this player is young, but he has shown that he can be a good and important player for us,’ and the club decided to sign him,” Conte said.
After loan spells at Stade Rennais, Leeds United and Genoa, he made his first start for Spurs away to Southampton in December last year, 881 days after signing for the club.
Since then, the 25-year-old hasn’t looked back, starting 24 of Spurs’ last 30 Premier League games and starting both of Spurs’ Champions League games so far this season.
Given that Spence is used in both full-back positions, he is extremely versatile, with Ian Wright describing him as an “adventurer” at his best. In the words of Harry Redknapp, he was a “revelation” in north London.
Meanwhile, current manager Frank declared Spence was “very good” in one-on-one defence, adding: “He’s a great type and can play on either flank…Jed deserves a lot of credit. He really deserves it. It was tough.”
The Tottenham manager was referring to Spence’s international breakthrough after making his England debut against Serbia at the Stadion Rajko Mitic last month, replacing Reece James in Belgrade for the final 20 minutes.
Spence started both of England’s matches against Wales and Latvia this month, and Three Lions captain Harry Kane gave this emotional speech as he presented his team-mate with his first cap.
It is not inconceivable that Spence would start at next year’s World Cup, given that manager Thomas Tuchel is short on left-back options and Miles Lewis-Skelly is another strong candidate for the spot.
Returning to Tottenham, his breakthrough progress over the past 12 months is a vindication of Paratici, who always believed in him, and proof that all a player needs is the right environment to develop, and that environment clearly did not involve Conte.
