Daily Mail

Tottenham will not let sporting director Fabio Paratici walk out and join Fiorentina without compensation.

Paratici is wanted by the club currently bottom of Serie A despite winning for the first time this season on Sunday, and is keen on the move, according to reports in his native Italy.

He has informed Spurs chief executive Vinai Venkatesham of Fiorentina's interest and told him to expect an approach but at the time of writing there was still no formal contact as required to reach an agreement to break him from the contract signed in October.

Spurs stayed loyal to Paratici when he resigned as their managing director of football in April 2023 after FIFA extended a ban for his role in financial irregularities at former club Juventus to cover the whole of world football.

He remained a visible figure at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium working on a consultancy basis after resigning from his official position.

When his ban expired this summer, he was reappointed two months ago as a sporting director, the title also held by Johan Lange. Venkatesham said they would work together to fulfil the ever-expanding requirements of the role.

'Together, Fabio and Johan will lead with purpose,' the Spurs chief executive said upon Paratici's reappointment.

'This is an evolution in how we operate. We're setting the foundations for sustained success.'

If Paratici does depart just two months later, it will not look good for Venkatesham, and it will also be a serious blow to Spurs' transfer plans in the January market if their senior recruitment expert was to leave with the transfer window about to open.

Fiorentina, cut adrift at the bottom of Serie A with only nine points from their first 16 games, picked up a shock 5-1 win at home to Udinese on Sunday, their first league victory of the season.

Their previous sporting director, Daniele Prade, departed the club by mutual consent last month.

Harry Redknapp should have been the next Manchester United manager after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, former Tottenham star Sandro has claimed.

United have endured a turbulent time since the legendary boss stepped down in the aftermath of winning the Premier League in 2013.

In the subsequent 12-and-a-half years, United have won only five trophies - two FA Cups, two League Cups and the Europa League - and Ruben Amorim is the sixth permanent appointment post-Ferguson, excluding caretaker and interim bosses.

David Moyes was the man tasked with filling Ferguson's void, but Sandro felt that was the wrong choice.

'Yes, 100 per cent (Redknapp could have fixed Man United's problems after Ferguson),' Sandro told BOYLE SPORTS who offer the latest football betting.

'They managed in the same kind of way. A big image, a big impact in the dressing room, and you need to have that.

'When you speak, players listen. Everybody respected Harry but you could also have a joke with him and he would make everybody laugh too.

'Harry could talk well to the media but also his tactics were good and he could change things during a match on the pitch too. He was a manager that could do everything.'

Moyes was ultimately sacked in April 2014 with United languishing in seventh - and Louis van Gaal replaced the now-Everton boss.

At the time of Ferguson's retirement, Redknapp, who signed Sandro for Spurs in 2010, was in charge of QPR.

The 78-year-old was unable to save the Hoops from relegation, although he did take them up from the Championship in the following year, until he left when they were 19th on their return to the top flight.

And Sandro, who played 106 times for Spurs before joining Redknapp at QPR in 2014, was full of praise for his style of management.

'I remember, when I arrived in England, I was on the bench and at half time Harry took a player off,' the Brazilian added. 'In Brazil, this is deeply disrespectful to a player, to take them off at the break but Harry was not afraid.

'He told the guys "we are not having a good game, sorry but I'm changing the team and I need to change it. I am doing this for the team." He was a coach who would make the big decisions. And we won that game. I liked it.

'He would come and talk to you as a player. You have to have that. I remember he would say to me: “Sorry Sandro, you’re going to play the next game. I will play you.” That’s how you manage players. If you give a player something like that, the player will let you do something else.'

Sandro continued: 'I completely agree that Harry Redknapp could have done a good job at Manchester United because he had the right style of management.

'Their fans want to play and attack. Harry would play that way with good tactics in a back four.

'We were always balanced at Tottenham. Teams need to have that balance. Attack and defend. We were a team. Not two teams.'

After leaving QPR in February 2015, Redknapp managed Jordan for two matches in March 2016, before he oversaw a 13-game stint at Birmingham City the following year. He has not managed professionally since.

Of the positives Tottenham boss Thomas Frank tried to salvage from defeat against Liverpool perhaps the key was the reaction of fans to their efforts in adversity.

The relationship between an ailing Spurs team and its home crowd has been strained through 2025, a year in which they delivered the Europa League trophy but won only four games in the Premier League and lost a club record 11.

Dissatisfaction has been clear, and Saturday's defeat left them languishing again in the bottom half of the table with Frank under pressure from those who are not convinced he is the right man for the job.

But the team did battle for an hour with 10 men and finished the game with nine after first Xavi Simons and then Cristian Romero were sent off, and still they summoned a strong finish, rattled Liverpool and roused their supporters.

There is an irony that they generated this mood with the sort of direct football and aerial assault that offends some of the Spurs purists, but they found a way to unite the crowd behind them by refusing to give in. And it felt like progress.

'We felt the fans really pushed us forward,' said defender Micky van de Ven. 'It was really tough, we made 2-1 and you saw that we kept pushing forward even when we were with nine men.

'On the pitch, we knew maybe we can get something here, we can get the result. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. What can I say? I'm proud of the boys. How we kept pushing the whole time and how hard we worked for the whole game.

'It's a lot of emotions going through my head. I'm proud of the team and of course I'm gutted, disappointed. I'm angry how some things were going in the game. But we can get nothing changed about it anymore. And that's it.'

Nothing galvanises a team and their fans like a collective feeling of injustice and Frank raged accordingly about the key decisions that went against his team, the two red cards and what he claimed was a foul on Romero by Hugo Ekitike as he scored Liverpool's second.

Romero's furious protests earned him a yellow card from referee John Brookes.

'Cuti is a strong defender so I know he's not going to go down easy,' said Van de Ven. 'If Cuti is this convinced that he's getting pushed then probably there should be something wrong with it.'

Even so, it is impossible to excuse Romero for retaliating to a foul by Ibrahima Konate in stoppage time. Spurs were on the charge at the time. Liverpool were rattled and an equaliser did not seem out of the question.

But the Spurs captain kicked out at Konate as they lay on the floor on in a heap and now misses the game at Crystal Palace on Sunday through suspension. It will be his second suspension of the season.

He was ruled out of the home defeat by Fulham, banned after five yellow cards and his despite improvements in the last two years, his indiscipline remains a liability.

Simons will serve a three-match ban for his red card, awarded after a VAR intervention for catching Virgil van Dijk mid-calf with his studs.

Frank claimed it was not a red card and Arne Slot said he had seen similar fouls committed without the culprits sent off, but the reality of the situation is that it leaves him without his most creative force for key games, trips across London to Palace and Brentford and at home against Sunderland.

Despite their misfiring form, these are fixtures Spurs are expected to win. Six or seven points would certainly ease some of the pressure on Frank and lift them up the Premier League.

Then come fixtures against Bournemouth, West Ham and Burnley, three teams all below Spurs as it stands.

This is six-match midwinter sequence appears crucial if Frank is to persuade the doubters that he can halt the slide and turn around his first season at the helm. It will help if they can harness the positive energy from the way they finished the game against Liverpool. If not, there may be trouble ahead.

Tottenham have not had an approach from Fiorentina despite strong reports in Italy claiming Fabio Paratici is poised to accept a five-year deal from the club bottom of Serie A to become their director of football.

Spurs stood by Paratici, 53, through the embarrassment of a worldwide ban from FIFA for his part in a financial scandal during his time at Juventus.

Paratici was sidelined two years into his role at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April 2023, and served a 30-month ban that was initially handed out by the Italian football federation, before it was extended worldwide by FIFA.

The Italian remained a visible figure in a consultancy role in North London and was reappointed as a sporting director in October when the expiry of his ban freed him to return to a formal role at the club.

Spurs also have Johan Lange in a sporting director role.

'Together, Fabio and Johan will lead with purpose,' said chief executive Vinai Venkatesham upon Paratici's reappointment.

'This is an evolution in how we operate. We're setting the foundations for sustained success.'

It would not look good for Venkatesham to lose Paratici two months later, and a serious blow to their transfer plans in the January market if their senior recruitment expert was to leave with the transfer window about to open.

Fiorentina, cut adrift at the bottom of Serie A with only six points from their first 15 games, were at home to Udinese on Sunday.

Their previous sporting director, Daniele Prade, departed the club by mutual consent last month.

Thomas Frank’s team found the fight before Christmas. Not until they were two goals behind and down to 10 men, it’s true, but with disruption subs Richarlison and Joao Palhinha on the rampage and Cristian Romero prowling up front they rattled Liverpool.

It could hardly have been further from what the purists might consider classic Spurs and much closer to what Thomas Frank did so well when at Brentford.

Richarlison pulled one back and the visitors quaked under the frenzy of pace and aerial attack. They struggled to stem the tide even when Romero was sent off, leaving his team to finish the game with nine men.

But Liverpool hung on, banked the points from a bruising encounter and condemned Spurs to a record 11th home defeat in the Premier League in this calendar year.

This time though, a home crowd which has booed its team often during this miserable run of results roared their them on towards an unlikely comeback and when they fell short they rose to salute the collective effort.

Perhaps all these paradoxes will galvanise Frank’s Spurs although defeat is a heavy one. It pushes them closer to the bottom of the table and still prone to self-harm, this time with two unnecessary red cards.

Romero, having picked up a yellow card for dissent, kicked out at Ibrahima Konate. Utter stupidity with his team finally in the game and threatening to salvage a point.

Xavi Simons had been already dismissed in the first half for an foul from behind on Virgil van Dijk, raking studs down his achilles.

The game was drifting nowhere when Simons sought to leave contact on his Netherlands captain. There was little force in the challenge and yet it came from behind, unseen and the contact was high.

The slow-motion replays and freeze frame images led the officials to the only decision they could take. Judged an act of serious foul play, it not only left his team-mates at a numerical disadvantage against the champions, but Simons will be banned for games, against Crystal Palace, Brentford and Sunderland.

Until that point, Spurs had encountered very few problems from the visitors. Arne Slot set off with Hugo Ekitike alone up front with a wingless five in midfield. Romero handled him well, right up until the point where Ekitike climbed above him to head in the second.

Frank had recalled Lucas Bergvall to start on the left of his usual 4-2-3-1 formation but with licence to drift inside, link up with Simons and leave the wide channel open for Djed Spence to charge through from left back.

There were hints of success at times. Spence was involved in the early Spurs chances. He set up the best chance of the first half for Randal Kolo Munai with a header back across goal from a Pedro Porro cross.

Kolo Muani headed it tamely straight at Alisson when he should have scored and did little during the first half hour when the teams were 11 against 11 to suggest he might be the solution for team in the desperate need of a forward who will shoulder the burden of responsibility when it comes to scoring some goals.

Kolo Muani was dominated by Konate and rarely strong enough with his back to goal to bring the team up the pitch on anything more than a fleeting foray.

Oddly, he was more effective after the red card because he played slightly deeper, picked up by the central midfielders. It was Ryan Gravenberch he rolled away from before driving into the penalty box and shooting against the bar via a deflection.

Spurs were far more dangerous when they went direct in the closing minutes. They made a mess of the game and almost forced their way back in. But they have lost again. They have won only four at home in the Premier League in 2025.

Liverpool survived a late scare to win 2-1 over Tottenham on Saturday, edging out a chaotic clash which saw the hosts reduced to nine men in north London.

Xavi Simons was sent off for a foolish and recklessly late challenge on Virgil van Dijk, handing Liverpool a man advantage heading into the break.

British record signing Alexander Isak, who came on at half-time, fired the visitors ahead with a smart finish just before the hour mark, only to be forced off with injury after being caught by Micky van de Ven as the ball rippled the net.

Hugo Ekitike continued his hot streak with an excellent header to double Liverpool's lead, before Richarlison set up a nervy finish with a goal of his own off the bench.

With the crowd up and Spurs pushing for a late winner, Cristian Romero made his team's task harder with Tottenham's second red card of the afternoon, this time a second yellow for lashing out at Reds centre-half Ibrahima Konate.

Daily Mail Sport's LEWIS STEELE was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to rate and review the players as Liverpool carved out a third successive win in all competitions.

TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1)

Guglielmo Vicario - 6

Smart save to deny Wirtz in the first half. Could do nothing about Liverpool’s goals.

Pedro Porro - 6.5

Got forward well and had a big task on his hand up against the marauding Kerkez on his flank.

Cristian Romero - 4 (Sent off)

Stupid red card, both for moaning at the referee. His Spurs side may have had a chance to draw with 10 men.

Micky Van de Ven - 5.5

Ekitike gave him a tough battle.

Djed Spence - 6.5

Attacked with promise and caused all sorts of problems.

Rodrigo Bentancur - 6

Gave the ball away cheaply too often. Liverpool won the midfield battle.

Archie Gray - 5.5

Some nice moments but could not keep up with the away team’s midfielders.

Mohammed Kudus - 6

Looked the most dangerous of any Spurs player early doors. He is a creative outlet that can cause issues for any team.

Lucas Bergvall - 5.5

A tidy player but could not impact the game how he may have liked.

Xavi Simons - 3 (Sent off)

Could have zero complaints for the red card. What was he thinking? Let his team down with a completely needless challenge.

Randal Kolo Muani - 6

Had two golden chances in the first half, one with his head and one in the six-yard box, and he really should have converted at least one.

Substitutes

Brennan Johnson (for Kudus 58) - 6

Wilson Odobert (for Bergvall 71) - 6

João Palhinha (for Gray 71) - 6

Richarlison (for Kolo Muani 80)

Not used: Antonin Kinsky, Kevin Danso, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Mathys Tel.

Manager

Thomas Frank - 6 (Booked)

Was let down by silly red cards, especially from Simons. His team created more than enough to win.

LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1)

Alisson - 7

Would have been cold in the second half as Spurs barely ventured forward but will be annoyed to concede and not keep the clean sheet. Big interventions in the last five minutes.

Conor Bradley - 7

Unlucky to be substituted at half-time and many will hope that was tactical and not fitness related because he was excellent in the first half with several crucial interventions.

Ibrahima Konate - 7.5 (Booked)

Much improved performance from the Frenchman who had been criticised for a lot of this season. Highlight was a late block on Richarlison.

Virgil van Dijk - 5.5

At fault for Spurs’ goal when he swung and missed at an attempted clearance to allow Richarlison to score.

Milos Kerkez - 7

Got forward well and caused issues for Porro but his end ball was somewhat lacking. More dangerous than most of his Liverpool outings, though.

Ryan Gravenberch - 6

Some silky moments in midfield as ever.

Alexis Mac Allister - 5 (Booked)

Did not impact the game as he may have liked.

Dominik Szoboszlai - 6 (Booked)

Misses the next game against Wolves due to an avoidable yellow card. A solid performance as usual, though.

Curtis Jones - 6

Had been in his best run of form for some time for Liverpool and played some lovely line-breaking passes here but was a lucky man after a late misplaced pass was not punished.

Florian Wirtz - 8 (MOTM)

So unlucky not to score in the first half after some dancing footwork. Sumptuous assist for Isak’s opener. The best creative spark on the pitch for Liverpool.

Hugo Ekitike - 7.5

Barely had a sniff in the first 60 minutes but then scored to make it 2-0 and put the game to bed after 66. It is what the best strikers do – influence games. Five in three league games now.

Substitutes

Alexander Isak (for Bradley, 46) - 6

Jeremie Frimpong (for Isak, 55) - 6

Federico Chiesa (for Frimpong 90)

Andy Robertson (for Ekitike 90+9)

Trey Nyoni (for Wirtz 90+10).

Not used: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Wellity Lucky, Rio Ngumoha, Calvin Ramsay.

Manager

Arne Slot - 6

Game management must improve but another good win.

Referee

John Brooks - 7

Got both red cards correct.

Follow Daily Mail Sport's live blog for the latest score, team news and updates as Tottenham welcome Liverpool to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League, with Riath Al-Samarrai, Matt Barlow and Lewis Steele reporting from the grounds.

Much has changed inside Tottenham since this time last year when Liverpool descended on N17, scored six, wreaked havoc and inflicted psychological damage on the home team.

There’s a new chairman, new boardroom regime and a new trophy in the cabinet. A new head coach with a different tactical style. A few new players and a very different team because only three - Pedro Porro, Djed Spence and Archie Gray – will be expected to start against the Premier League champions on Saturday from those who started 12 months ago.

Yet for all the change, the evidence of significant progress is scant. Spurs are 11th in the Premier League, precisely where they were after the 6-3 humbling at the hands of Liverpool in the last match before last Christmas.

Twelve months since have delivered 37 points from 37 Premier League games, just 16 points from 18 at home, and no sense of satisfaction lingering among the supporters from the Europa League triumph in May.

Thomas Frank’s job, for all that, appears safe. He is only six months in and chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, who is running the show post Daniel Levy, does not want to hit the reset button.

Venkatesham witnessed the value of patience when in a similar role at Arsenal during the awkward early stages of Mikel Arteta’s tenure and Spurs, it’s true, have probably had too many changes in the dugout in the six years since they sacked Mauricio Pochettino. Perhaps it is time to look more critically at the team assembled with the help of various recruitment experts in that same period.

AN ERROR-PRONE KEEPER

The heat is firmly on Guglielmo Vicario after another error-strewn display in the chastening 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

This, after a howler in the home defeat by Fulham and other unconvincing displays, make a case for giving Antonin Kinsky, 22 years old and signed from Slavia Prague in January, a run in the team.

Frank has resisted, perhaps unsure if Kinsky is ready. Vicario can make brilliant saves. He was outstanding in a 0-0 draw in Monaco in October but often lacks confidence under the high ball.

He is frequently targeted with crowding tactics at set-pieces and, recently, prone to poor decisions with the ball at his feet.

The problem is that he is one of the grown-ups in a young team lacking leaders and character.

Vicario is mature, intelligent and a strong voice in the dressing room. Although some pundits criticise him for trying to blame others for his own mistakes, he is usually willing to front up in public when other senior players do not.

Frank will not want to lose his leadership qualities and be aware that if he is to build trust in the dressing room, he must back senior players at difficult times.

At the same time, Spurs really could do with finding an upgrade and it should be something they are looking at in the January market.

UNRELIABLE BACK FOUR

Centre backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have become the best and arguably the most important figures in the team. Their aggressive and adventurous playing styles have made them popular with the fans.

Romero is the warrior, leading his team into the fight and always up for a physical contest. Van de Ven is the cavalier, dashing forward to lead the attacking charge or racing back in recovery to the delight of Spurs fans.

Van de Ven has six goals this season (only Richarlison, one ahead, has more for Spurs), Romero has three, including the late overhead kick to rescue a point at Newcastle.

They are vital, they go together well and yet they do not provide a solid, reliable base for the team. Romero can be erratic, concedes free-kicks and accrues suspensions, picking up seven yellow cards in 18 games this season. His injury record is far from spotless, either.

Van de Ven takes risks and sometimes his scintillating pace is not enough to help him get away with it. He too rides the disciplinary tightrope, with six yellows in 22 games this season.

Strong, consistent teams are built around the bedrock of centre halves and the goalkeeper. See Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Alisson at Liverpool last season or Gabriel, William Saliba and David Raya at Arsenal this season.

Perhaps at Spurs, that is the fault of those around them. Not just the keeper because none of the full backs come with great defensive instinct and Frank has failed to find his perfect balance in midfield.

ELUSIVE MIDFIELD BALANCE

When Declan Rice and Moses Caicedo were on the move to London rivals for £100million-plus two summers ago, Spurs were nowhere to be seen. They simply do not compete at this elite level in the transfer market for the sort of players who might solve what is arguably the biggest problem.

So they can sign Joao Palhinha on loan from Bayern Munich when those who pay more decline the opportunity, but while he is a brilliant ball-winner and fearsome physical presence in midfield, the Portugal international lacks finesse on the ball, especially in tight areas playing out at the back.

Rodrigo Bentancur has poise, vision and tactical acumen but does not have the requisite defensive strengths. See his attempts to stop Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross for the second goal at Forest.

Pape Matar Sarr can run all day and might get a goal but is untidy in possession. Lucas Bergvall has talent and promise but is a risk deep in midfield. Meanwhile, Yves Bissouma appears to be a lost cause.

Archie Gray is the latest hope, impressive in games against Brentford and Slavia Prague when Spurs were in control, but his mistake in conjunction with Vicario at Forest is a reminder of his tender age and experience.

The midfield options are a mishmash of those who have not quite made the elite tier and those bought young in the hope they can develop and reach that tier of excellence, in the way Dele Alli and Harry Kane did.

TOOTHLESS IN ATTACK

Frank’s search to be secure at the back has reduced the power up front. Put bluntly, those paid to score goals rarely look like doing so.

Of those who reached double figures for goals last season, Dominic Solanke (16), James Maddison (12) and Dejan Kulusevski (10) have been out injured and not started a game between them all season, Son Heung-min (11) has been sold and Brennan Johnson (18) is out of favour.

Frank has taken the biggest goal threat out of the team. Plenty of Spurs fans have been frustrated by Johnson, but he has been under-used, cast aside to make way for £55m Mohammed Kudus to play in his preferred role on the right wing.

The other big summer signing, Xavi Simons, is showing signs of settling but looks as if he can only play in the No 10 role.

For all his limitations, Richarlison has been the one to step up and shoulder the burden of goals, but the absence of an out-and-out threat has led to an over-reliance on set-pieces which nags away at Spurs fans who like to see their team playing free, with flair and imagination.

GLIMMERS OF FALSE HOPE

Solanke is on the mend and Kulusevski not too far away, but Spurs are back where they spent most of last season, praying absent stars will get well soon and ride to the rescue.

Injuries will always happen in football. There will be more, particularly for a Champions League team on a gruelling schedule. It is the reason Arsenal, City and Liverpool have spent so much to create huge squads packed with quality cover.

The academy is providing very little for the first team. Winger Mikey Moore, the brightest of the homegrown prospects, is out on loan at Rangers, where he is starting to make an impact after a tricky start to the season.

The market opens soon, and Frank promises they will be active as they seek a goalkeeper, left-sided attacker and a striker but Spurs have shown they will not compete at the very top with the biggest spenders. Nor do they regularly outwit the clever recruiters such as Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford.

For all the hints about good intentions from the post-Levy board it will be a surprise if they can deliver a significant overhaul to the team in January, but they must try, and sporting directors Johan Lange and Fabio Paratici must earn their corn.

FESTIVE EXAMINATIONS

Liverpool have done Spurs some damage in recent meetings. In 16 games since the beginning of 2018-19, a season in which Liverpool beat Spurs three times including the Champions League final, the Londoners have won only twice.

One of them was the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final in January, before they were blown away 4-0 in the return fixture.

The other was a 2-1 win featuring the Luis Diaz goal wrongly ruled offside, because the VAR wasn’t paying attention. After Liverpool, it's a trip across London to Crystal Palace.

These are testing times for Spurs. They will examine the character as well as the quality in the squad. They will test the suitability of Frank for the job. They will test the nerve of the board.

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