Tottenham decide on former Wolves boss Nuno as new manager

Tottenham appoint former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo as their new manager on a two-year contract.

Spurs sacked Jose Mourinho in April and replaced him with 29-year-old Ryan Mason until the end of last season.

“It’s an enormous pleasure and honour [to be at Spurs]. I’m happy and looking forward to starting work,” said Nuno.

“We don’t have any days to lose and we must start working immediately as pre-season starts in a few days.”

Nuno will not have long to wait to face his former club as Spurs have a trip to Molineux to face Wolves in their second league game of the season on 22 August.

Whether he will have 27-year-old striker Harry Kane available remains to be seen.

The England captain said in May that he hopes to have “a good, honest conversation” with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy about his future.

Levy thanks fans for patience

Tottenham have brought in Nuno after Mauricio Pochettino, Antonio Conte, Paulo Fonseca and Gennaro Gattuso were linked with the job this summer.

Spurs made contact with Paris St-Germain boss Pochettino about the possibility of the Argentine returning to manage them but the French club were not prepared to let him go.

Former Chelsea boss Conte appeared set for the role, having left Inter Milan after leading them to the Serie A title, only for talks between the Italian and Spurs to break down.

Ex-Roma manager Fonseca then thought he was taking over, only to be dumped in favour of Gattuso, who was quickly rejected when fans reacted badly to the existence of social media posts which brought the Italian’s commitment to inclusivity into question.

Nuno won the 2017-18 Championship title in his first season with Wolves before leading them to seventh in the Premier League in the following two seasons, while they finished 13th last season.

“We should like to thank our supporters for all their patience throughout this process,” said Levy.

“I’ve spoken already about the need to revert back to our core DNA of playing attacking, entertaining football, and [managing director of football] Fabio [Paratici] 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 left his role as Juventus’ long-serving chief football officer to take on his role at Spurs earlier this month.

“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,” he said.

Timeline of Spurs’ search for a manager

19 April – Jose Mourinho is sacked as Spurs boss after 17 months in charge

20 April – Former Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason, 29, is promoted from club’s academy to take over as interim manager until the end of season

27 April – Julian Nagelsmann, who had been linked with taking over at the London club, is announced as Bayern Munich’s new boss for next season following his spell at RB Leipzig

30 April – There is speculation Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag could be in the running for the post but he signs a new contract with the Dutch club

23 May – Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers is another name mentioned as a possible Spurs target but he insists he will not be leaving the Foxesexternal-link

27 May – Tottenham make contact with Paris St-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino about the Argentine returning to the manage the Spurs side

28 May – PSG have no intention of letting Pochettino leave the club, reports Guillem Balague

2 June – Antonio Conte is a clear front runner for the Spurs job after leaving Inter Milan, having led them to the Serie A title

4 June – Conte also led Chelsea to the top-flight crown during his spell in charge at Stamford Bridge but talks with Spurs break down

15 June – Spurs are close to appointing former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca as their new manager

17 June – Tottenham’s attempts to find a new manager take another twist as they end talks with Fonseca in a move thought to be linked to Gennaro Gattuso’s unexpected Fiorentina exit

18 June – Gattuso is no longer considered a candidate after the prospect of him taking over prompted a fan protest, which was communicated to the club by the Tottenham Hotspur Supporter Trust.

30 June – The search is over. Tottenham appoint Nuno Espirito Santo as the club’s new manager.

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