Tottenham have no plans to make Jose Mourinho work under a Sporting Director... just yet

1/55
James Olley21 November 2019

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy will remain the club’s leading powerbroker with no plans to appoint a Sporting Director immediately.

The club have not ruled out making an appointment above new head coach Jose Mourinho but discussions are not active amid rumours linking Luis Campos with the post.

Spurs were one of the first clubs in England to appoint a Director of Football when installing David Pleat to the position in 1998.

The role later caused friction with manager Glenn Hoddle, who resigned in 2003 protesting at his own lack of control and the position was eventually scrapped in 2008 when Damien Comolli was dismissed.

Levy is believed to have viewed the job with a degree of scepticism ever since but there is a recognition the modern game demands dedicated, experienced individuals in to lead recruitment teams and Mourinho enjoys a good relationship with Campos, who is currently employed as Lille’s Sporting Director.

Purple reign | Jose Mourinho yesterday during his first training session with the Spurs squad Photo: Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I

The pair were pictured at a Lille match earlier this year and Mourinho with Campos quoted as saying in October: “Mourinho is like a brother to me. I know him very well and for a long time. He's a wonderful person and the best coach in the world. So, of course, if he called me I would speak.”

That call has not yet taken place, however, and it is believed that Levy would retain control of the club’s transfer policy in the event of any future appointment.

Mourinho was set to face the media for the first time this afternoon since being named as Mauricio Pochettino’s successor yesterday morning.

The 56-year-old took training again this morning, a day after signing a three-and-a-half year deal with Spurs which will tie him to the north London club until the summer of 2023.

Mourinho’s first day is said to have gone down well with the players with some expressing surprise at how engaging he was, taking time to speak to each player individually as well as addressing the group aiming to turn the focus swiftly to Saturday’s Premier League trip to West Ham.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in