Tottenham Hotspur appointed Jose Mourinho rather than going for Gareth Southgate.
According to the Daily Mail, FA executives were concerned that Tottenham Hotspur wanted to lure England boss Gareth Southgate to North London after Mauricio Pochettino’s exit.
Pochettino’s five-and-a-half year stint at Tottenham came to an end on Tuesday night as Tottenham chose to sack the Argentinian following a poor start to the season.
In came Jose Mourinho less than 12 hours later as Daniel Levy moved quickly to land Pochettino’s replacement, and he got off to an ideal start with a 3-2 win at West Ham United.
A host of other managers have been mentioned with the post over the last few week though, and one of those was England boss Southgate, with the Daily Star reporting at the end of September that Spurs were interested.
Now, it’s believed that FA executives were indeed worried that Spurs would move for Southgate when Pochettino left, but are now delighted to see Mourinho in the job instead.
Their concern was more based on next summer rather than right now, but with Mourinho handed a three-and-a-half year deal, there’s now no concern to be had.
Daniel Levy even allegedly didn’t even consider Southgate as a serious contender because he didn’t think there was a chance he could lure him away from the England job, and the FA can rest easy.
The 49-year-old has impressed in charge of England, but will need a new contract soon given that his current deal ends in 2022, with more club interest surely imminent.
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