Tottenham Hotspur co-sporting director Fabio Paratici has insisted he is doing everything to plan for manager Thomas Frank.
Gianluca di Marzio cover comments from the Tottenham chief today. He appeared on Italy’s Sky Sports Insider show to discuss all things Spurs and his career.
Paratici officially returned to Tottenham last month as the club’s new co-sporting director. He had initially resigned in 2023 after receiving a 30-month worldwide ban from football stemming from financial regularities during his time at Juventus.
That didn’t end his association with Tottenham, though. While serving his ban, he worked in an unofficial consultancy capacity with his former club.
That means he was a part of the process that saw Thomas Frank hired this summer as Ange Postecoglou’s replacement. Although, how much of an influence he had on bringing him in from Brentford isn’t clear.
Either way, the focus is now on providing him with the best squad to get Tottenham back on track after finishing 17th last season. And Paratici is willing to admit as much, insisting his style of football is now Frank’s.
“I believe blindly in the director-coach relationship: as a director, you almost have to renounce your footballing ideas to embrace those of the coach you have,” he said about the Tottenham boss.
“My football today is that of Thomas Frank. I’ve always discussed football a lot with my coaches, and I’ve learned a lot from them: they’re extremely knowledgeable. When you go into a discussion with them, you have to be an expert, or they’ll destroy you.
“Managers must support them and tolerate them in what they think is the right thing for them. We’re there to help them, not to question them.
“The role of manager is fundamental, because they have to ensure that everything works well. They have to put everyone in the best possible condition to perform at a high level.”