{"id":216021,"date":"2025-10-15T19:57:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/216021\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T19:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:57:10","slug":"fabio-paratici-why-is-he-back-at-tottenham-what-about-his-ban-and-how-will-co-sporting-directors-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/216021\/","title":{"rendered":"Fabio Paratici: Why is he back at Tottenham? What about his ban? And how will co-sporting directors work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday morning, Tottenham Hotspur announced that Fabio Paratici had been appointed as their co-sporting director alongside Johan Lange<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Paratici previously worked for the north London side between 2021 and 2023. He resigned from his role as managing director of football<\/a> after being banned by FIFA for alleged financial mispractice during his time with Juventus, which he has always denied. After successfully appealing the scope of his ban<\/a>, Paratici was allowed to act as a consultant for Spurs and remained a close confidante of former executive chairman Daniel Levy.<\/p>\n

Lange joined Spurs from Aston Villa in November 2023, six months after Paratici\u2019s resignation, and became their technical director. He has been promoted and will work closely with Paratici. Spurs plan to hire a director of football operations to help them.<\/p>\n

In an interview on the club\u2019s website, chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham explained the new model. \u201cWe are going to benefit from both of their expertise and experience in terms of how we drive the club on the pitch,\u201d he said. In a separate statement, he described the pair as \u201cexceptional leaders\u201d with \u201coutstanding football minds\u201d and that they are \u201csetting the foundations for success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here,\u00a0The Athletic examines how Spurs\u2019 new-look structure will work and why Paratici has come back.<\/p>\n

How will Lange and Paratici work together?<\/p>\n

Lange and Paratici have different strengths and weaknesses. The new set-up has been structured in a way to capitalise on their areas of expertise.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohan will be focused on scouting, performance, football insights, performance analysis and the academy,\u201d Venkatesham said. \u201cFabio will be more focused on players, the transfer window, the loans and pathways department. They have different focuses but the reality is they will work together on everything, in particular around squad planning and player recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n

It makes sense that Lange will concentrate on identifying players because he has a close relationship with head of scouting Robert Mackenzie and head of football insights and strategy Frederik Leth. The trio worked together previously at Aston Villa and played a key role in reshaping Tottenham\u2019s recruitment department to focus more heavily on data.<\/p>\n

Paratici showed he has the skill and expertise to pull off difficult transfers in his previous roles with Spurs and Juventus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sporting director role has changed a lot in the last 5-10 years,\u201d Paratici said in a joint interview with Lange. \u201cWe have a lot of different models and structures in Europe. In every model, maybe the job titles are different but there are at least two to three people driving the football areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more people and specialists. We have a lot of departments to manage. We have a transfer window, players, agents. We need people and I\u2019m very happy to work with this group of people and to join Johan. We know each other very well. We are complementary and have different skills. I\u2019m so Italian, I\u2019m so passionate and maybe emotional and I\u2019m sure I can be better close to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

It should be noted Lange joined Tottenham in October 2023 from Aston Villa<\/a> where he was sporting director. He left four months after Monchi joined, a hire that meant Lange\u2019s role changed to global director of football development and international academies. The Dane was billed as a replacement for Paratici.<\/p>\n

Although Tottenham hired Lange as technical director, their chief football officer at the time, Scott Munn, praised his \u201cexcellent track record of scouting and signing many talented and successful youth and senior players.\u201d It remains to be seen if Lange and Paratici do really complement each other or overlap.<\/p>\n

Why did Paratici resign?<\/p>\n

Paratici was one of 11 Juventus executives banned after the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) reopened an investigation into inflated transfer fees<\/a> on the basis of new evidence that came to light in a separate criminal case into the club\u2019s affairs. Wiretaps were splashed all over the sports pages in Italy without, the defence argued, proper context.<\/p>\n

Upon issuing a two-and-a-half-year ban, the FIGC then applied to FIFA for it to apply worldwide and Paratici, then at Tottenham, was forced to resign. Initially banned from \u201cany football-related activity\u201d<\/a>, Paratici successfully appealed to FIFA\u2019s Disciplinary Committee in order to work in a reduced capacity as a consultant. The suspension expired in July.<\/p>\n

Separately, the criminal case reached a conclusion at the end of last month in Rome. Paratici entered a plea bargain and received a suspended 18-month sentence.<\/p>\n

As Juventus\u2019 former chairman Andrea Agnelli explained in a statement confirming the entry of his own plea bargain, in Italy \u201cthis is without civil effects or additional penalties, without the acknowledgement of responsibility and, therefore, consistent with (a) position of innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

How involved has he been at Spurs since?<\/p>\n

This announcement will not surprise the majority of Spurs fans. Paratici has never tried to hide the fact he was still closely associated with the club. He was frequently spotted at games and took photos with fans. He attended the UEFA Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain in August and sat near Lange. He advised Levy on transfers and the process to hire a new head coach after Ange Postecoglou was sacked in June.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Fabio Paratici next to Johan Lange at the UEFA Super Cup final in August (Giuseppe Maffia\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It felt inevitable that he would eventually return in an official capacity, even though Paratici held informal preliminary talks with Milan in April. Milan, in the end, withdrew on the basis of his lingering ban, which had yet to expire, and an already pressing need to prepare for a big transfer window as the team finished eighth in Serie A. They hired Igli Tare instead.<\/p>\n

While flattered, Paratici\u2019s preference was to resume work in the Premier League and there was, already then, a belief he\u2019d return to Tottenham once his legal issues in Italy were resolved.<\/p>\n

Why have they brought him back?<\/p>\n

Signing players is extremely difficult. Signing elite players is even harder. Paratici has an excellent reputation for smart recruitment. He is credited with playing a major role in Spurs signing Dejan Kulusevski, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie, who are all key players under Thomas Frank and played an important role in Spurs winning the Europa League.<\/p>\n

Spurs were stung in the summer by their failed pursuits of Morgan Gibbs-White<\/a> and Eberechi Eze<\/a>. Their hope must be that with Paratici back at the centre of their operations, they will avoid any future disappointment.<\/p>\n

What does Levy\u2019s exit mean for the sporting director roles?<\/p>\n

Levy usually got involved towards the end of a transfer. The recruitment department would identify a potential signing, the head coach would try to convince them to join Spurs and then it was up to Levy to negotiate a price. For example, Levy held talks with Crystal Palace\u2019s chairman Steve Parish for weeks over Eze, who eventually moved to north London rivals Arsenal. Levy\u2019s departure means somebody else will be responsible for that element of a deal and it will probably be Paratici.<\/p>\n

Levy had a lot of control at Spurs and this new model with Venkatesham, Lange and Paratici might be more beneficial long-term. They can challenge each other to ensure they reach the right outcome.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Daniel Levy was all-powerful at Spurs (Jacques Feeney\/Offside\/Offside via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m certainly not expecting them to agree on everything and I\u2019m not worried about that,\u201d Venkatesham said. \u201cI welcome that. We are going to have lots of important decisions ahead to drive the football club and I\u2019m a firm believer in having more voices and opinions to make the right decisions. I think having both Johan and Fabio in roles means we will make better decisions. That will mean we make less mistakes and more decisions that work for the football club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are there other examples of co-sporting directors working?<\/p>\n

This is a dynamic Frank is familiar with because he worked under two co-sporting directors at Brentford. Phil Giles and Rasmus Ankersen were appointed at the same time in May 2015 and they worked together for six years. During that time, Brentford reached two Championship play-off finals, earning promotion to the Premier League at the second attempt. Ankersen left to become the chief executive officer of Sport Republic, who bought Southampton in January 2022, and Giles became the sole sporting director.<\/p>\n

Ankersen and Giles collaborated on lots of key decisions, including hiring Frank as an assistant in December 2016 and then promoting him to the head coach role two years later.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, there are a few similarities between Giles and Lange and Paratici and Ankersen. Giles played a crucial role in Brentford integrating data into their recruitment process. Lange revolutionised Spurs\u2019 use of data following his appointment and hired lots of extra staff. They are both more reserved characters than Ankersen and Paratici and tend to stay out of the limelight.<\/p>\n

In a piece for The Athletic earlier this year about Giles\u2019 decade at Brentford<\/a>, Frank spoke about how he was focused on \u201cstrategies, processes and alignment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Phil Giles (in grey top) at a Brentford game with Ivan Toney in 2023 (Alex Pantling\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cRasmus was the more innovative and outgoing guy,\u201d Frank said. \u201cWhen Rasmus was going in one direction and I was going in the other, Phil kept everything together.\u201d<\/p>\n

It sounds very similar to the dynamic which Lange, Paratici and Venkatesham described in their interviews. Paratici and Venkatesham, in particular, are no strangers to sharing roles. Paratici worked with Beppe Marotta at Sampdoria and Juventus before earning a promotion in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s signing. Tandems are not uncommon in Italy. Marotta, now at Inter, works with Piero Ausilio and Dario Baccin. Milan\u2019s last title was credited in local media to Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara working together on recruitment.<\/p>\n

The other example which springs to mind is when Venkatesham was Arsenal\u2019s managing director and Raul Sanllehi became their head of football. They had different job titles but the split in responsibilities mirrors what will happen with Lange and Paratici. In that instance, Sanllehi left Arsenal after two years.<\/p>\n

There is another current example in the Premier League. In February 2023, Chelsea announced Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart would be co-sporting directors.<\/p>\n

How involved will Frank be in transfers now?<\/p>\n

Spurs have a collaborative approach to transfers so Frank will still be heavily involved. Frank will discuss with the coaching staff where he thinks the squad needs to be strengthened and will relay that information to Lange and Paratici. They will then identify potential targets, reach out to them and hopefully secure their signing with minimal fuss.<\/p>\n

During an interview with The Athletic<\/a> during their pre-season tour in Hong Kong and South Korea, Frank spoke about the differences between the set-up at Brentford and Spurs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Thomas Frank will be involved in transfer deals (Alex Pantling\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we are signing players here where the processes in Brentford, I\u2019m not saying they were better, I think they\u2019re very good. I think that Johan and his team is doing a top job, but just for them to understand what I\u2019m looking for, so that needs to be aligned.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Brentford it was aligned\u2026 \u2018I want that\u2019, \u2018OK, fine\u2019, we look at it, boom. And now I need to use more time with Johan and Rob and these guys and then we make presentations. So all that is just extra hours every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will take a little bit of time for the new dynamic to settle but they will hope they have found the right partnership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday morning, Tottenham Hotspur announced that Fabio Paratici had been appointed as their co-sporting director alongside Johan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[132079,64,63,596,19264,1614,10815,13198,85,3276,10988],"class_list":["post-216021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-associazione-calcio-milan","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-juventus","tag-premier-league","tag-serie-a","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-sports-business","tag-tottenham-hotspur"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}