[Yomi]

Tottenham’s move to appoint Paulo Fonseca as their new manager has collapsed with Gennaro Gattuso their next target.

Fonseca’s appointment seemed imminent with his contract verbally agreed but now reports in Italy suggest Spurs are unwilling to stretch to Fonseca’s pay demands.

Instead, the north London club will turn their attention to Gattuso, who sensationally quit Fiorentina this week after just 23 days in charge.

It is the latest twist in Daniel Levy’s increasingly desperate search for Jose Mourinho’s full-time successor.

They had already missed out on Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, Erik ten Hag, Antonio Conte and Mauricio Pochettino with pre-season fast approaching.

Sky Sport Italia reported that Spurs have broken off talks with Fonseca for ‘fiscal reasons’.

The Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano reported the deal collapsed because of ‘tax issues’ with Fonseca enjoying tax advantages under Italian law that wouldn’t be applicable in the UK.

It came just two days after Tottenham’s new managing director of football Fabio Paratici said Fonseca was on the verge of signing a two-year deal.

Gattuso, 43, walked out of Fiorentina having only been appointed there on May 25 following a dispute over transfers and the former Napoli boss could now suddenly be on his way to the Premier League.

Fonseca guided Roma to the Europa League semi finals this season, but they were dumped out by runners-up Manchester United. Former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho has since taken the job that was vacated by Fonseca.

The 48-year-old was not the club’s first choice but his track record of developing youngsters, as well as his capacity to play eye-catching football, had held sway.

Fonseca was a candidate for the Tottenham job before Pochettino was appointed in 2014 and is in a similar mould to the Argentine as a manager with his ability to work with tight budgets as well as trusting youth players.

But now his appointment has collapsed just days before an official announcement was expected.

Former AC Milan defensive midfielder Gattuso has formerly managed Milan and Napoli during his managerial career, which began at Sion after he hung up his boots in 2013.

He guided Napoli to success in the Coppa Italia in 2019-20 but he was sacked after they narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification at the end of the Serie A season.

Gattuso was quickly back in work, appointed by Fiorentina just two days later. But on June 17, he left the club due to a dispute over investment in new signings and the involvement of Gattuso’s agent, Jorge Mendes.

Mourinho had been sacked by Tottenham just six days before they played Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.

The team was led on an interim basis by former Spurs midfielder Ryan Mason, who ensured they qualified for the inaugural Europa Conference League following a seventh-place finish.

Source: Dailymail

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[Anonymous]

There must be something in Tottenham discouraging coaches from coming there. First Conte, now Fonseca.

[Michael Scofield]

Can’t seem to wrap my head around Levy’s choices. He keeps running the club in a way that sabotages its interests. It can be a coincidence that two coaches don’t want to manage there. Get a grip, man.

[Author]

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