Spurs’ unhealthy obsession has to die in the post-Nuno era – Our View

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Tottenham Hotspur are entering a new era under Antonio Conte, and while Conte’s appointment spells the beginning of a new age it also should spell the end of an old one.

It could be argued that Spurs’ business over the past couple of years hasn’t been centred around one player or one manager, but one agent.

Of course, we’re talking about Jorge Mendes.

Having a good relationship with a super-agent is never a bad thing. After all, that’s how you attract the biggest names in football. The likes of Mendes, Mino Raiola and Kia Joorabchian represent some of the world’s best players, but if we’re being honest, Spurs’ work with Mendes simply hasn’t been beneficial.

It’s known that Fabio Paratici has a good relationship with Mendes, hence the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo and the fact that Gennaro Gattuso was a leading candidate at one point.

However, while Mendes managed to broker deals for players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo while Paratici was at Juve, his work with Spurs hasn’t been quite as fruitful.

Let’s take a look at the Mendes clients that have arrived in north London over the past two years.

Jose Mourinho was a bust, he was sacked within 18 months of his appointment, while Nuno Espirito Santo was at the helm for an even shorter period, being sacked after just 10 league games.

On the player front, Matt Doherty is well and truly out of the picture at Spurs just 12 months on from his arrival, while Carlos Vinicius was sent back to Benfica after his underwhelming loan spell.

It’s clear that Spurs are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to their business with Mendes, and they need to stop being so reliant on him in a post-Nuno era.

Now, we’re not saying that Spurs should cut all ties with the super-agent. After all, he has a number of talented footballers on his books, but they can no longer be influenced by Mendes and call upon him when they’re in a bind as his solutions up to this point haven’t actually helped Spurs at all.