It’s not a transfer news story but it kind of feels like one. After numerous rumors and reporting over the past month, Tottenham Hotspur has confirmed that its co-sporting director Fabio Paratici is leaving the club in February to become the new Director of Football at Fiorentina.
I dunno y’all, I feel like I’ve said everything I want to say about Don Fabio. He got us some good players while he was here, he was involved in some crimes at Juventus, he got banned from football, and somehow Spurs decided to offer him a job again when he was able to work in the industry, despite keeping him on as a “consultant” during his ban. I think it’s weird that he’s leaving the club for a club that could be relegated to Serie B, just four after being appointed to a weirder Sporting Director job-share alongside Johan Lange. It makes me look back at that (retroactively) awkward post-transfer window video with him sitting on a couch with Lange talking about how great everything was with intense skepticism.
The official reason for Paratici leaving is “personal reasons.” That very well could be the case, and at some level I’m happy that Fabio gets to return to his home country to spend more quality time with his crimes. The bigger concern for me is where the club goes from here. Spurs CEO Vinai Venkatesham made the following short statement on Tottenham’s website about Paratici’s departure:
“We have agreed that Fabio will return to Italy following the conclusion of the January transfer window, in line with his wish to move back home. We thank Fabio for his contribution to the Club and wish him well for the future.
“Our management structure is designed to be resilient to personnel changes, and it will be business as usual moving forward.”
Oh really? Mind if we see an organizational chart of the management structure, Vinai? Because I’m incredibly confused as to what this means going forward. Is Johan Lange now our new (single) Sporting Director? Is our new Director of Football Operations Rafi Moersen now involved? Is Venkatesham now planning on actually hiring a Director of Football? We don’t know! It’s all unclear!
In the end I’m pretty neutral on this move and what it means, because I’m not actually sure it changes much. It probably SHOULD change a lot, but I doubt we’ll see anything until at minimum after the close of the window, with which Paratici is still apparently very involved. That also strikes me as weird. But whatever!
Paratici has been at the club in a very strange period of its history and sad to say I’m not sure he leaves it in better condition than when he arrived. But thanks for Bentancur and Kulusevski, Fabio. Good luck aiming your transfer scattergun in Florence, I hear it’s a lovely city. And get off your damn phone.