Tottenham Hotspur have outlined Fabio Paratici’s successor as Johan Lange looks to appoint a co-sporting director
Sebastian Kehl is the leading candidate to join Tottenham Hotspur as their co-sporting director. The North London club are looking for someone to provide support to Johan Lange after Fabio Paratici left the club to join Fiorentina in January.
The Italian, who initially left Spurs in 2023 before returning, worked alongside Lange as the club’s joint sporting director but expressed a desire to return to his native country. According to various reports, the Premier League strugglers have held discussions with the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder.
Kehl left a similar role at the Bundesliga club in March, while The Athletic has reported that no former offer has been made, he is among the leading contenders, but is currently undecided on his next steps.
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It has been said that Tottenham’s hierarchy want Kehl alongside Lange to rebuild the squad, as their Premier League status hangs in the balance. Spurs sit two points off safety with five matches left.
In a tweet to X, Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg said: “Sebastian Kehl is now the leading candidate for a role as Tottenham’s new director.
“Spurs’ board want him to rebuild the team alongside Johan Lange. Kehl’s career as a top player, his management skills and his extensive international network are highly valued within the club and during the conversations.
“However, a quick decision does not appear imminent. Sources close to Kehl indicate that the former BVB sporting director has not yet decided whether he wants to return to the game immediately or take some time off first.”
The 43-year-old departed Signal Iduna Park last month, leaving a club where he made 274 league appearances, as part of a major shake-up following a trophyless season for Dortmund.
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Kehl held the position for nearly five years after he was appointed as the successor to Michael Zorc, a successful football director in Germany, who was in situ when Dortmund won the Bundesliga three times.
The former midfielder is said to have other options and has been the subject of consistent links with a return to a senior position at Bundesliga clubs, namely Hamburg.
Lange is said to have been behind the recruitment process to find his sporting director partner, having worked with Paratici briefly before he left the club.
After the Italian left the club, he said speaking to Italian outlet Corriere della Sera: “The Premier League is as good as the NBA. I’ll just tell you that the head of human resources evaluated 50 resumes for my assistant. Everything there is perfect, and of a superior standard.
“They run more, but above all they run the ball faster. They have to learn to pass better for that, and the training pitches are always mowed and wet. Technique comes naturally that way.”
Paratici was banned for 30 months by FIFA after being found guilty of false accounting during his tenure at Juventus. While the Turin club were hit with a 10-point deduction, his appeal against a two-and-a-half-year ban was rejected by Italy’s highest sports court.
With the 53-year-old in position at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs made a number of high-profile signings, including Richarlison, Cristian Romero, Pedro Porro, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur, among others.
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