After Conte scared the chairman and the players, Spurs turn to Mozambican born as the new coach

Julian Negelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, Erik Ten Hag, Roberto Martinez, Ralf Rangnick, Antonio Conte....it seems that a long list of potential Tottenham managers has finally come to an end. All of these candidates were considered for the post, and either refused, or didn’t satisfy Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, but now it seams that the North London club will finally find a new man, two years after sacking Jose Mourinho – Paulo Fonseca.

The Mozambican born Portuguese was sacked by Roma who then choose Jose Mourinho, and now Fonseca will take Mourinho’s former club. For some, it was a desperate more for Levy, as all other candidates failed to sign a contract for various reasons, but it is also reported that Fonseca was actually a first choice for soon to be new sport director Fabio Paratici.

But as The Telegraph reports, all that remains for the deal to be completed is an agreement on the paperwork and the final signing off from Levy, who is understood to be in the Bahamas with main shareholder Joe Lewis. Fonseca will sign a two year deal with an option for another, and the club wants to make the deal in time to officially announce Paratici as the director.

Fonseca came into the frame after Antonio Conte’s negotiations collapsed. According to The Athletic some Tottenham players were terrified by the idea of Conte’s “extreme and demanding” training methods, having heard from friends who worked with the tactician.

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On the sports side, Spurs chairman Levy felt that Conte’s budgetary demands were unrealistic and also potentially damaging to our future. 

“Daniel wants us to be successful more than anyone but not at the expense of the club itself. He knows any new manager is going to need money to improve the squad and he is certain to provide them with that. But there has to be a balance and it cannot leave the club in a perilous situation“ a senior Spurs source told The Sun newspaper.

As for Conte, he had his explanation why the Spurs job didn’t appeal to him.  

"Generally, I like the challenges and I’ve accepted many of them during my career. Even the top clubs I coached were never the favorites when I arrived. However, if there’s something that doesn’t convince me I prefer not to accept regardless of the money. The market sets the price, but had I been obsessed by money, I would have stayed where I was in the past. I look for the projects instead and I am ready to stay at home if something is not convincing me. It has to do with vision, honesty and principles" he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.