A new era at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is firmly underway.
And it could not have gotten off to a better start, with the north London outfit currently sat top of the Premier League table unbeaten without conceding a single goal in their opening three league matches.
It’s fair to suggest that the appointment of Nuno Santo as head coach has, so far, been a massive success but of course, there is plenty of the season left to play.
He’s not been the only change at the club, though.
Spurs appointed their first sporting director since 2015 in Fabio Paratici and he deserves plenty of credit for his instant impact at the club.
The Italian supremo, who won 19 trophies during his time at Juventus in a similar role and was responsible for the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, has managed to shift on plenty of deadwood, including the injury-prone Erik Lamela as well as regressing veterans Toby Alderweireld and Moussa Sissoko.
Paratici has also worked some magic in the transfer market, signing a couple of players for the future in Pape Matar Sarr and Byran Gil, whilst improving the first-team squad with the arrival of Atalanta duo Pierluigi Gollini and Cristian Romero on loan and Emerson Royal from Barcelona, too.
Not to mention the fact that he managed to keep hold of the talismanic Harry Kane.
However, it was his decision on deadline day that could prove to be the best of them all after he cancelled the contract of the long-serving Serge Aurier, who had clearly slipped right down the pecking order under the Portuguese boss.
Had he remained at the club now, Spurs would have four right-back options and he would be sat rock-bottom in preference – and understandably so.
Earning reported wages in the region of a whopping £120k-per-week, the 66-cap Ivory Coast international would’ve been merely stealing a wage at a club he didn’t even want to be at.
The £18m-rated star told French publication L’Equipe of his intentions to leave N17 back in late May but with no club willing to take a chance on him, he had to be released from his contract.
“Everyone knows that if I wanted to extend my contract at Tottenham, I’d have already done so,” Aurier claimed. “I’m not going to do that in six months’ time. I’ve experienced the Premier League and a Champions League final. I’ve reached the end of a cycle and it’s time to look elsewhere.”
Not only are Spurs now saving a lot of money off their wage bill but they are also getting rid of a player that was often lambasted and marred by controversy.
Off the pitch, Aurier was fined for breaching the country’s lockdown guidelines for the third time whilst on it, he was regularly described as an “absolute liability.”
The Lilywhites’ defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final saw Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher become the latest name to lay into the 28-year-old’s ability.
“Aurier is maybe one of the biggest liabilities in Premier League football and is a player who would possibly put you off management with the amount of crazy decision he makes,” he said, via talkSPORT.
It merely adds to other scathing criticism of his performances over the years since he arrived in a £23m deal from Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017.
Fellow Sky Sports man Roy Keane once labelled Aurier as a “car crash” and suggested that he was a “huge problem” for Spurs. He said (via Football Daily): “He’s got a rick in him. He has caused loads of problems. I have described him as a bit of a car crash. Nice powerful boy, keeps going forward, but defensively I think he doesn’t smell danger or see the danger. And that’s been a huge problem for Spurs, the right-back position.”
On the above evidence, Paratici made a blinding call to offload the right-back. He can now be someone else’s problem as Spurs move on with Emerson and co this season.
AND in other news, Spurs handed “frustrating” injury blow ahead of Premier League return…