According to Het Laatste Nieuws, Royal Excel Mouscron wanted to raid Tottenham Hotspur for Joao Sacramento as their new manager.
Mouscron sacked boss Fernando Da Cruz on Monday, and were looking to make a quick appointment to replace him.
They allegedly wanted to bring Tottenham assistant Sacramento to Belgium, offering him his first managerial job – but Spurs have avoided a major loss.
Mouscron have today confirmed the appointment of Jorge Simao as their new manager, meaning Sacramento – hailed as ‘very determined’ by his former mentor Steve Savage at the University of South Wales – will remain at Tottenham for the foreseeable future.
Mouscron are strongly linked to Lille, as they are both owned by Gerard Lopez. Lopez appointed Da Cruz as Mouscron manager for a second time over the summer, after managing Lille B.
That’s where Sacramento comes into the picture. Lopez knows him from Lille too, and seemingly wanted to lure the 31-year-old away from Tottenham with the lure of a first managerial role.
Instead of Sacramento, it’s another Portuguese boss taking the job in Simao, and he will now have to work with a squad that contains a staggering 12 loanees from Lille.
This is great news for Spurs and Jose Mourinho, as losing Sacramento during the season would be a huge blow, but the interest goes to show how highly Sacramento is rated – and a full-time managerial role no doubt awaits in the future.
Andre Villas-Boas, Steve Clarke, Aitor Karanka, Rui Faria and Jose Morais have all landed managerial jobs off the back of working closely with Mourinho, and Sacramento could follow suit one day – but for now, Mourinho’s right-hand man will be staying at Tottenham.
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