Tottenham Hotspur have named Nuno Espirito Santo as their new manager, the Premier League club said on Wednesday.
ESPN's James Ollie previously reported on Espirito Santo's discussions at the North London club.
Espirito Santo left Wolverhampton Wanderers after four seasons, where he won promotion to the Premier League in 2018 after a six-year absence and maintained his position as a top-flight side for three seasons. He also previously managed Valencia and FC Porto.
"When you have a team with quality and talent, we want fans to be proud and enjoy," he said in a statement on the Tottenham website.
“It is a matter of great pleasure and honor, happiness and I am happy and looking forward to start work. We have no days to lose and we should start working immediately because in a few days pre- The season begins."
Espirito Santo's appointment follows Tottenham's appointment of Fabio Paratici as their new director of football earlier this month. The 48-year-old was previously the chief football officer at Juventus for 11 years.
😁 #WelcomeNuno pic.twitter.com/YhPNTjqfsm
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 30, 2021
Espirito Santo, 47, was close to taking over at Crystal Palace before negotiations failed and became the latest recommendation from Paratici, who is believed to be on good terms with Nuno's agent, Jorge Mendes.
Paratici and Espirito Santo met with club president Daniel Levy on Wednesday to finalize the deal. Paratici has pushed the appointment because he wanted to take him to Juventus first.
"I've already talked about the need to return to my original DNA of attacking, playing recreational football," Levy said. "Fabio and I believe that Nuno is someone who can take on our talented group of players, embrace our young players and create something special."
Espirito Santo's appointment to take over the north London club ends what has become a complicated and troubled quest to succeed after the sacking of Jose Mourinho in April. Among the candidates associated with Spurs over the past several months were Antonio Conte, Gennaro Gattuso, Paulo Fonseca, Brendan Rodgers, Julian Nagelsmann and Eric ten Haag.
Spurs hired 29-year-old coach Ryan Mason as interim boss until the end of the season following Mourinho's ouster and the club began working out a list of candidates.
Rodgers has a contract until 2025 and has shown no interest in leaving Leicester City, while Nagelsmann opted to leave RB Leipzig for Bayern Munich, leaving Spurs to oust former boss Mauricio Pochettino to see if he can. Paris Saint-Germain will enjoy joining the club again.
However, sources told ESPN that Pochettino never asked to leave the Ligue 1 club, who in any case opted to extend his contract for another year until 2023.
Ten Haag has also extended his deal to stay at Ajax Amsterdam amid Spurs' interest.
Discussions with early front-runner Conte - with Internazionale anew on winning the Serie A title - failed to yield any progress, allowing the club to enter discussions with other candidates.
Spurs moved closer to drafting a contract for ex-AS Roma manager Fonseca - with an option for two years and 12 months - before exiting at the 11th hour and surprisingly leaving Fiorentina after Gennaro Gattuso focused his attention on. However, a backlash among supporters for Gattuso's possible appointment led Spurs to resume their search.
Tottenham began their new league campaign on 15 August at home to champions Manchester City.