Tottenham finally get a manager! Nuno Espirito Santo confirmed as new Spurs boss

Tottenham have confirmed the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo as their new head coach as the long and frustrating wait for a new manager comes to an end. 

Spurs owner Daniel Levy had seen several attempts to find a long-term replacement for Jose Mourinho fail, including moves for Julian Nagelsmann, Antonio Conte and Paulo Fonseca. 

But Portuguese boss Santo, who quit Wolves at the end of last season and was in talks with both Everton and Crystal Palace this summer, has now signed a two-year deal with Spurs. 

Daniel Levy’s frustrating search for a new Tottenham head coach has come to an end

Santo told the Spurs official website: ‘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.’

Santo’s arrival at Spurs is the first managerial appointment made by new sporting director Fabio Paratici, who moved from a similar role at Juventus earlier this summer.

Santo replaces Jose Mourinho (left) who was sacked by Spurs in April of this year

Levy, meanwhile, was under pressure to appoint the right manager after the Spurs owner himself was the subject of fierce protests from the Tottenham supporters after a poor Premier League and European season and the club’s decision to sign up for the European Super League. 

The businessman sacked Santo’s predecessor Mourinho in April and installed 29 year-old Ryan Mason as interim coach – but Spurs’ season ended is disappointment as they only qualified for the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League.  

On Santo’s appointment, Levy added: ‘First of all, I’d like to welcome Nuno to the Club. 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.’ 

Santo took Spurs from the Championship in 2017 to the European knockouts in three years

Santo arrived at Wolves in the summer of 2017 when the club were in the Championship and led them to second tier triumph in his debut season in England.

The 47-year-old then achieved back-to-back seventh-placed finishes with Wolves and also took them to the Europa League quarter-finals in 2020. Earlier in his career, he managed Valencia in the Champions League and Rio Ave in the Europa League. 

New sporting director Paratici added: ‘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.’ 

More to follow.