According to Fabrizio Romano, Tottenham approached Ernesto Valverde over the weekend with a view to him becoming their new manager.
As we all know by now, Tottenham’s search for a new manager has been a bit of a shambles, but appointing Valverde could be a shrewd move.
After all, Valverde is a former two-time La Liga winner with Barcelona, and he once went through an entire league campaign losing just one match with La Blaugrana.
Valverde is certainly a talented manager, and during his time at Barcelona, he caught the eye of Mauricio Pochettino.
What’s been said?
Pochettino backed Barcelona to win the Champions League back in 2018, praising Valverde for the job he was doing at Camp Nou.
“If there is one favourite team to win Champions League it is Barcelona. (Ernesto) Valverde is doing a great job. They have players of extraordinary level, and then they have Lionel Messi,” Pochettino said.
This isn’t the only time Pochettino has praised Valverde, claiming that he enriched Barcelona while also staying true to the core principles of the club.
“Valverde has tried to change things, but he has kept the principles, giving nuances to the game of Barcelona, which has been enriched,” Pochettino said.
“Football is about the players and when you have players as big as Barcelona has been, capable of delivering a philosophy beyond the coach, it is difficult to change them.”
Great candidate
Tottenham seem to have exhausted every available option to them, but Valverde is a manager who still hasn’t turned them down.
The Spaniard is a great gaffer, after all, you don’t win two league titles if you’re a poor tactician, and if we’re being honest, Barcelona probably should never have sacked him.
Indeed, sacking a manager who lost just 16 games in three years charge of your club seems like a massive overreaction, but their loss could be Spurs’ gain.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
