John Heitinga’s agent Rob Jansen has revealed Tottenham Hotspur wanted his client to continue at the club.
The representative has been talking about his client’s short spell at Tottenham on podcast KieftJansenEgmondGijp and FCUpdate have relayed his comments.
Jansen joins journalist Michel Van Egmond and former Dutch players, Wim Kieft and René van der Gijp, to discuss football.
The quartet discussed Heitinga’s Tottenham exit in the latest episode.
Short Tottenham spell
Tottenham endured a difficult run under Thomas Frank, winning seven of their 26 league matches this season. The Danish coach tried to improve things by adding Heitinga to his backroom staff on January 15th.
Last month, the assistant manager’s agent said he wasn’t expecting Spurs to sack Frank. He was wrong as the north London club parted ways with their manager on February 11th.
Three days later, Spurs appointed Igor Tudor as interim manager until the end of this season and Heitinga followed through the exit door on Friday.
Spurs wanted Heitinga stay
Sport Witness recently covered the Dutch claims that Heitinga left the Premier League side after holding talks with Tudor.
Jansen now says otherwise, insisting Tottenham wanted his client to be part of the Croatian’s team. He explained why the Dutchman decided to leave the club.
“He was allowed to stay. They even asked him to stay. All other coaches, all Scandinavian, left. And after three weeks, they told him: ‘Please stay and see out your contract here.’ That’s quite an achievement for someone who worked there for three weeks,” he said.
“But he said: ‘Yes, but now Igor Tudor, a Croatian coach, is coming with a whole staff for three or four months’. That man is always hired for emergency jobs.
“That almost never works. Why they did that is a mystery to me. And then another coach will come in. So, you can leave twice. That new coach will also come in with 45 people. He said, ‘This is pointless, Rob. I have to leave now’.”
Why Tottenham overlooked the Dutchman
Kieft put it to Jansen he knew Frank’s situation at Tottenham when his client took the job. When responding to that, the agent admits Heitinga’s initial plan was to take over from Dane, but Spurs lacked confidence.
“But there was a chance he would take over; we had that in mind. Only: the club didn’t. After three weeks, they decided it was too soon. So, then you have an interim manager,” Jansen explained.
“What does the management do, or in this case, the owners, the Lewis family? They opt for some kind of security. They hire someone with a track record, someone known as a crisis manager at struggling clubs for a few months. That saves their image. Unless they dare to continue with Heitinga and a new staff, but they won’t.”
When the agent was asked if Heitinga received a compensation from Spurs, he added: “I’m always good at drawing up contracts in advance, as you know.”