Igor Tudor is in London to complete a move to Tottenham Hotspur to replace Thomas Frank as manager.
That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport. The Italian newspaper covers the Croatian manager today and his surprise move to Tottenham.
Numerous reports yesterday from England and Italy threw Tudor to the top of Tottenham’s wish list to replace Frank at the helm. Tottenham sacked the Danish coach on Wednesday after a miserable six months in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs are deeply worried about relegation and have turned to Tudor to firefight and push them to safety. Sport Witness covered their developing move for him extensively yesterday.
First, reports explained that he had jumped to the top of Spurs’ list, before the clubs struck a verbal agreement.
Tudor in London with Tottenham
That’s certainly according to Gazzetta anyway. The Italian newspaper reports that Turdo has flown to London from Split to finalise his deal. He is currently in the capital with Tottenham and it’s a case of ‘we’ll see later’.
According to their information, Tottenham CEO Vinai Venkatesham specifically chose him. He also considered former Leipzig boss Marco Rose and former Dortmund boss Edin Terzic.
But he’s decided on Tudor because he’s ‘the man for emergencies’. Or, at the very least, the ‘one for mid-seasons’. The 47-year-old has rarely finished, or started, a season on the same bench since he started his managerial career.
Tottenham called yesterday after raising the relegation alarm. They’re currently 16th, five points from safety and haven’t won in the Premier League since the end of December.
Those in charge at ‘truly fearful’ of relegation and wanted a manager who can make an immediate impact and fight hard. That will start on Monday when training resumes.
Relegation battles
Tudor has extensive experience fighting battles. He saved Udinese in four games in 2018, then repeated the trick from March a year later. He then shone in Verona before going to Marseille.
Then a three months spell at Lazio followed before going to Juventus for seven months.
He has held 11 roles in 12 years and will contest his sixth different European championship at Tottenham.
The contract will run until June, but if he can provide the necessary impetus, he could be a candidate for a permanent deal.