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Director of Football

USspur

USspur

Player in Training.

Fabio Paratici​



Tottenham will have a new face in charge of their football operations this month and some of the things he has said in the past show what the club will be getting

Tottenham are expecting to hire a new director of football operations this month in Fabio Paratici.

The 48-year-old bid farewell to a similar role at Juventus this week with a press conference on Friday alongside the Italian side's chairman Andrea Agnelli.

He is expected to join Tottenham this month and is believed to have already begun the search for the club's next manager as well as planning various sales and transfers for the summer.

Since stepping up from a head of scouting role to taking over from Juventus CEO Beppe Marotta in 2018 - the two men falling out since - Paratici has become more outspoken in the media.

One interview for a documentary with Sky Sport Football - a Sky Italia channel - following his part in the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid and ahead of the 2019 January transfer window shone a light on the man Tottenham will get.

On his style

"It is true that I often follow multiple leads to run interference and raise the price tag, but everybody does that. It is not even a strategy on my part, I am just obsessed with knowledge, I am very curious when I hear about some rumours or I catch wind that somebody else is after a player.

"I think this is a virtue, I always look deep into things to try to know why. This stimulates me a lot. When you try to get some information about a player, they are naturally linked to you and then you become a potential buyer."

On his relationship with Marotta while at Juventus

"We were well-assorted and complementary. I dealt with the more technical aspects of the job, like scouting, talking with agents and finding the players.

"We always discussed the deals together, because he is very experienced and knows football, he was aware of the numbers and how far a negotiation could go. I brought the deals to the final stage and then he swooped in to help me avoid making mistakes."

On signing players for Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri

"Conte was not attached to the name of a player, he cared about his functionality in his system, which is legitimate and makes finding reinforcements easier. He had his game plan and we had to identify the right fits.

"Allegri is more flexible in that regard, he is more open-minded, so we have a wider scope. As a football fan, I am lucky for having had the opportunity to see high-calibre players practice every day, that is the only moment where I turn off the phone. I enjoyed Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal, Paul Pogba, Dani Alves, Gianluigi Buffon.

"This is a great satisfaction. Winning the Champions League is our ambition but not an obsession."

On his relationship with his chairman Agnelli

"He is very hands-on and he is a daily presence. It is very easy to set up a meeting with him. Around the time we were chasing Cristiano and we were planning few things, I told him that there could have been an opportunity and that he should hear me out thoroughly, because it was a good sports news but there are other sides to it.

"However, he immediately realized what it could have meant for the brand and that he was looking in that direction. When I left his office, I believed we could get him.

"He asked me for a day or two to think about it but he called me after three hours. We went on a retreat on a lake to finalise the contracts, with all our lawyers and Ronaldo’s ones, I simply supervised that, it took about a day to reach all the agreements. We had not planned this purchase beforehand."

On his most difficult transfer negotiation

"The longest one was for Carlos Tevez. We had already reached out to him on our first season, when we had not done well and we were looking to bounce back.

"We called him even if we did not qualify to Champions League and that is a problem for big-time players. He gave his greenlight nonetheless, but we did not manage to buy him for economic reasons. However, we stayed in touch and bringing him in became my goal."


On signing Cristiano Ronaldo

"When I met with Jorge Mendes to discuss Joao Cancelo, he told me: 'You will not believe this but Cristiano wants to join Juventus.'

"I answered: 'I believe it, but it is difficult to make it work. My son has always been a big fan of him, I bought him a Portugal jersey, and through the years he repeatedly asked me why we were not buying him and I replied that it was impossible'.

"I could not find an answer when he asked the question again after we pulled it off. It was an easy negotiation because he was determined to come here."
 
USspur

USspur

Player in Training.

Cristiano Ronaldo


There's only one place to start of course and that's with the transfer labelled 'the deal of the century' by many in Italy. We all know how good a player Ronaldo is but his place on this list is more about the ability of Paratici in getting such a huge deal done, with all it entailed.

Juventus came out of nowhere to sign one of the world's best in Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid for £99m in 2018, with Paratici key to the deal following his talks with agent Jorge Mendes.

The Portuguese might have been 33 at the time but he has since scored 101 goals in 133 games for Juventus, winning two Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia.

Paul Pogba

Paratici was involved with the free transfer of the then 19-year-old Paul Pogba in 2012 as his contract expired at Manchester United, a move that upset Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Frenchman went on to become a star at Juventus, scoring 34 goals and laying 40 assists in 178 performances and was sold back to United for a then world record £89m just four years later.


Andrea Pirlo

It's not just youngsters who Juventus snapped up for free during Paratici's tenure.

Just a year into his time in Turin, the club managed another 'deal of the century' in bringing in 32-year-old Andrea Pirlo on a free transfer as his contract at AC Milan was coming to an end after 10 years at the club, with some thinking the midfielder finished.

He wasn't. The world class Italy international would win the Serie A title with Juventus in each of his four seasons at the club before heading off to the MLS to wind down his career.

Paratici has continued to show his ability to engineer free transfer in recent years with the signings of Adrien Rabiot and Dani Alves, as well as the more criticised arrival of Aaron Ramsey.


Paulo Dybala

The Argentine was signed as a 21-year-old for £23m from Palermo in 2015 and while some might question whether Dybala has truly reached his full potential, he has netted 100 goals and provided 41 assists in his 254 matches for the club.

A knee injury saw him struggle to make many appearances this season but, now 27, he is being tipped to become a future captain of Juventus once Ronaldo moves on.

Some Tottenham fans will be hoping that Paratici's arrival might help them try to sign Dybala again at some point.

Carlos Tevez

There was another Argentine that Juventus snapped up for just £8m plus add-ons and that was Carlos Tevez, who was brought in from Manchester City.

The then 29-year-old spent just two seasons at the Italian club but netted 50 goals in 96 matches, plus adding 19 assists.

Paratici called signing Tevez his most difficult transfer at Juventus.

"The longest one was for Carlos Tevez. We had already reached out to him on our first season, when we had not done well and we were looking to bounce back," he said in a Sky Sport documentary in Italy.

"We called him even if we did not qualify to Champions League and that is a problem for big-time players. He gave his greenlight nonetheless, but we did not manage to buy him for economic reasons. However, we stayed in touch and bringing him in became my goal."

Arturo Vidal

Juventus grabbed 24-year-old Arturo Vidal for just £9m from Bayer Leverkusen in 2011 and he would become a mainstay of the team.

The Chilean played 171 games in midfield during his four years at the club, scoring 48 goals and providing 25 assists as Juventus claimed four consecutive Serie A titles, winning the club's player of the year prize in 2013.

He was also named in the Serie A Team of the season for both the 2012/13 and 2013/14 campaigns.

Kingsley Coman

There's two sides to this coin. Juventus snapped up the 18-year-old from PSG on a free transfer, recognising his talent and handing him a five-year contract.

However, after just a year in Turin they agreed a two-year loan deal with Bayern Munich taking Coman with an option to buy.

The German side took up that £24m deal and while Juventus made a big profit, they sold one of the Europe's top prospects.

Wojciech Szczesny

This one might not go down too well with Tottenham fans but the former Arsenal man has proved to be an astute signing for Juventus.

The Poland international signed for just £10m after two seasons on loan at Roma having become known for his mistakes with the Gunners towards the end of his time there.

Paratici took a chance on the keeper and saw him as the successor to Gianluigi Buffon, which came to pass after just a season, following some eye-catching displays in the Italian's injury-enforced absence in his first campaign.

Szczesny has gone on to rebuild his reputation in Italy, winning three consecutive Serie A titles and the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year award following the 2019/20 campaign.

Weston McKennie

Paratici struck a deal for the US wonderkid with Schalke which spread Juventus' financial obligations across the following seasons.

The deal saw the midfielder snapped up first on a one-year £4m loan deal with an option to buy him, which would become an obligation to buy him for £16m (with £6m in add-ons) if he met certain targets, with the club able to pay the money within three years.

The versatile 22-year-old has now become a key player at Juventus and that deal is looking to be a bargain.

Dejan Kulusevski


The 21-year-old Swede winger is a star in the making.

Paratici signed him as a 19-year-old from Atalanta for £30m midway through an impressive loan spell at Parma.

This season he began to make his mark at Juventus and there are very high hopes for his future.
 
USspur

USspur

Player in Training.

Tottenham are expected to confirm Fabio Paratici as their new sporting director later this week.

Paratici, 48, left his role as Juventus' long-serving chief football officer after 11 years last week.

While he refused to say what his next challenge might be, it is understood it will be at Spurs despite the collapse of talks over Antonio Conte becoming the club's new manager.

Paratici was given a warm send-off by chairman Andrea Agnelli on Friday.

The Italian's first task at Tottenham will be to help chairman Daniel Levy and technical performance director Steve Hitchen in their search for a replacement for Jose Mourinho.

Club sources have defended the club's pursuit of Conte, even though the Italian's abrasive style appeared to run contrary to Levy's stated desire to realign Tottenham to what is "truly in our DNA".

It was felt once Conte came onto the market following his exit from Inter Milan, it would have been wrong not to talk with someone who has recent experience of winning trophies, in England as well as Italy.

Ultimately, after a number of conversations, it became obvious neither party would commit to the other.

Discussions around alternatives continued throughout this process and while it is accepted the current negativity around the club, which includes the future of Harry Kane, is not helped by the managerial uncertainty, it is also felt if the right appointment is made - someone who can deliver the kind of football to get fans off their feet - the discontent will start to ease.
 
ClemFandango

ClemFandango

Lord High Chief of the Privvy
I've heard conflicting reports about whether or not he's going to replace Hitchen in player acquisitions. If he does, great, but if he doesn't then what was the point of appointing him ?
 
Don Diaz

Don Diaz

Zero tolerance of Numpty's
Founding Member
Has this bloke, who apparently is a genius in the transfer market, been appointed yet? he was involved in Juventus winning 'Serie A' 9 years running....might have coincided with Juventus being involved in a bribing scandal, not sure? Anyway if Ronaldo, Dybala, Rabiot don't show up in N17 pronto, I'll be disappointed.
 
Yid

Yid

Well-Known Member
Founding Member
Appreciate the thread and what it may mean... but I can only echo Motspurs post above... fucks currently at zero percent.
 
Glenjamin

Glenjamin

Well-Known Member
Founding Member
Do we give much of a **** - really bored with this all now

Agreed, a guy that managed to sign some good players at the biggest club in Italy. Big whoop. I could have sold Juve to Ronaldo fuck sake. Pizza, wine, smashing looking women and oooo a cool 500k a week. Sure that was a hard sell.
 
The Cryptkeeper

The Cryptkeeper

The Aussie Yid
His first order of business - appointing a second rate manager and further fucking off the fan base. Also, ensuring that the world's best striker leaves the club.

Levy can fuck off and take Paratici with him.

Cunts.
 
USspur

USspur

Player in Training.

Tottenham have pencilled in two separate dates for the potential appointments of Fabio Paratici and Paulo Fonseca, reports in Italy claim. The club believe they are finally closing in on the unveiling of a new boss, some 51 days after the sacking of Jose Mourinho.
 
Dorset

Dorset

The Voice Of Reason
Founding Member
His first order of business - appointing a second rate manager and further fucking off the fan base. Also, ensuring that the world's best striker leaves the club.

Levy can fuck off and take Paratici with him.

Cunts.
I only agree with part of this, Levy can fuck and leave Paratici, that would be much better. I think we should give the Fonze a chance (if he gets the job),I don't think he is second rate but time will tell.
 
The Cryptkeeper

The Cryptkeeper

The Aussie Yid
I only agree with part of this, Levy can fuck and leave Paratici, that would be much better. I think we should give the Fonze a chance (if he gets the job),I don't think he is second rate but time will tell.

Yeah, that's fair enough.

I am just underwhelmed by Fonseca being appointed but who knows, he might be a gem.

Levy can fuck off. And then fuck off again.
 
Don Diaz

Don Diaz

Zero tolerance of Numpty's
Founding Member
I only agree with part of this, Levy can fuck and leave Paratici, that would be much better. I think we should give the Fonze a chance (if he gets the job),I don't think he is second rate but time will tell.
The Fonze - brilliant, does he come with a black leather jacket and a greasy quiff, if he does I’m in.

he’s been officially appointed Director of Football today. Not sure that means transfer policy and budgets.

I think it definitely means potential Scapegoat
 
spurious

spurious

Player in Training.
The Fonze - brilliant, does he come with a black leather jacket and a greasy quiff, if he does I’m in.
As a Canadian, I experienced an involuntary throb of the groin when you referenced The Fonze. Not for the reasons you think, mind, but because that's what we call Alphonso Davies 'round here, and I got to think for just a second that he could be our new LB.
 
Dorset

Dorset

The Voice Of Reason
Founding Member
The Fonze - brilliant, does he come with a black leather jacket and a greasy quiff, if he does I’m in.

he’s been officially appointed Director of Football today. Not sure that means transfer policy and budgets.

I think it definitely means potential Scapegoat
tottingham-r-cool.jpeg
 
ClemFandango

ClemFandango

Lord High Chief of the Privvy
Was thinking earlier, I do wonder if Paratici is going to be able to reign in Levy if things start to go south with Fonseca.

We know from history that Dear Leader is only too happy to pull the trigger for a variety of reasons but I wonder if Paratici will be able to walk him back from that point and convince him to ride it out if things aren't good ?
 
Dorset

Dorset

The Voice Of Reason
Founding Member
Was thinking earlier, I do wonder if Paratici is going to be able to reign in Levy if things start to go south with Fonseca.

We know from history that Dear Leader is only too happy to pull the trigger for a variety of reasons but I wonder if Paratici will be able to walk him back from that point and convince him to ride it out if things aren't good ?
Things with the Fonze have gone to the fucking South Pole, I wonder if Paratici will walk before we even get a new manager.
 
Style And Glory

Style And Glory

On My High Trojan Horse
Learning more about Fonseca gave me faith in Paratici's footballing acumen. He seemed to be a good fit for us. My worry now is if Gattuso is actually Paratici's next choice. If so, that knocks it back for me & raises some real doubts about him IMHO. Gattuso is highly unstable & has done nothing of any significance in management. And to think he's a good fit with Levy...?

My belief (& my hope) is that this Gattuso talk is simply coming from his agents side (Mendes).
 
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