When Tottenham started their season at Brentford in August, it was meant to be a day of new starts. This was Ange Postecoglou’s first game in charge, and he gave debuts to four players: Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie and James Maddison.
But it was also a day for old faces. Some Spurs staff were taken aback when they arrived at the Gtech Community Stadium for the start of the new era and bumped into someone they did not expect to see, a ghost of Tottenham’s past: Spurs’ former managing director of football Fabio Paratici, four months after he had been forced to resign from the job when he was banned from working in football. Paratici was not there in the directors’ box and not as a guest of Tottenham. But he looked to be enjoying himself, mingling with fans beforehand, signing autographs and posing for photos in the sun.
It had been an open secret since Paratici’s resignation that he had not truly left the building. He was still advising Tottenham on football matters, helping with the search for a new head coach, for a new recruitment team, and for the summer transfer window. Daniel Levy does not take advice from too many people but he backs Paratici implicitly after a series of successes in the transfer market, a change from Spurs’ years of struggles to land the right players. And, after Paratici successfully appealed the scope of his ban to FIFA, there is nothing to stop him from acting in this way.
It has been almost nine months since Paratici resigned. And even if he does not have his official job in the hierarchy anymore, he is still an important figure at Tottenham. He does not drive overall football strategy or policy any more, but his ad hoc consultancy is valued. Paratici’s reputation, one year on from his initial ban, is better than ever. Last year, a few good signings could be attributed to him. Now, at least half of Spurs’ team is routinely made up of Paratici’s players and their success has effectively rehabilitated his reputation. Morality in football works in a curious way.
Paratici talks to players before a game against Southampton in August 2022 (Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
This week, yet another Paratici target is set to join Tottenham, with the arrival of Romanian centre-back Radu Dragusin from Genoa. Dragusin will be the fourth player to come to Spurs who Paratici signed for Juventus: he identified him as a 16-year-old when he was playing for Bucharest club Regal Sport, admiring his athleticism, character and defensive instincts.
Paratici signed him for €250,000 (£215,000; $275,000), beating competition from Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. Dragusin rose through the youth ranks at Juventus before making his name out on loan, first at Sampdoria, then Salernitana, and then Genoa, who signed him permanently. Genoa’s general manager Marco Ottolini, as it happens, worked for Paratici at Juventus for years.
There is a photo circulating online of Dragusin, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski arm-in-arm in Juventus training kit. It dates from the 2020-21 season, still Paratici’s imperial era in Turin. Bentancur and Kulusevski were already regulars for Andrea Pirlo’s side and Dragusin, still in his teens, was forcing his way into the frame. Ultimately, Dragusin never managed to join Bentancur and Kulusevski as an established Juventus first-teamer. His pathway has more parallels with Cristian Romero: bought for Juventus by Paratici, before making his name elsewhere in Serie A, first on loan and then permanently. Romero was bought from Genoa, loaned back to Genoa and then loaned to Atalanta, who activated their option before selling him to Spurs for £42.5million.
Bentancur, Kulusevski & Dragusin 👀 pic.twitter.com/D5hCPdXKuc
— The Spurs Watch (@TheSpursWatch) December 29, 2023
Traditionally, observers might turn their noses up at Paratici advising Spurs to sign yet another former Juventus player. They might accuse Tottenham of a lack of orginality, of failing to cast the net wide enough. And yet it feels as if Tottenham and Paratici have earned the benefit of the doubt. Because by targeting players Paratici had at Juventus, Spurs have signed Romero, Kulusevski and Bentancur — at least £150million worth of players, maybe even £200m — for roughly £90m. Those two windows — summer 2021 and January 2022 — in Paratici’s first official season at Spurs were the best batches of recruitment the club has done in the last decade.
When Paratici resigned from Tottenham last April, the verdict on his time at the club was mixed. Yes, he had signed Romero, Kulusevski and Bentancur, but some other signings had not impressed yet (Bryan Gil, Pape Matar Sarr) or were still out on loan (Udogie). Paratici was also marked by the shambles of June 2021, when he repeatedly failed to land his managerial targets, before appointing head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, who had so little authority that he could only last 10 league games before Levy found an upgrade in Antonio Conte.
This was why many Spurs fans were relieved to see Paratici go when he finally left in April 2023. Ever since the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) issued him with a 30-month ban over the ‘plusvalenza scandal’ from his time at Juventus, the whole story had become a saga dominating the second half of last season. Spurs wanted to stick by Paratici pending his appeal, and Levy still put him in charge of the initial stage of recruiting Conte’s successor. But when FIFA extended Paratici’s ban across the world, Paratici had to step aside from his duties. And when he failed in an appeal to the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) on April 20, he had no option but to resign the next day.
It felt as if Paratici had lost the battle and, potentially, his career. But one week later, he won a crucial legal victory, which set him up for the work he is doing now. Separate from his appeal to the CONI over the ban itself was his appeal to FIFA over the extent of his ban. In brief, Paratici’s initial FIGC ban from January 2023 was an ‘inibizione temporanea’, a ‘temporary restriction’, preventing Paratici from conducting various activities as a football official. He could not represent a club at an association meeting, could not go in the dressing room during matches and so on.
Paratici’s signings have thrived under Postecoglou this season (Vincent Mignott/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
When FIFA’s disciplinary committee extended Paratici’s ban on March 24, 2023, it did so not just in locality but in scope, forbidding Paratici from all football activity across the world. Paratici appealed this extension to FIFA’s appeal committee and, on April 27, one week after resigning from Tottenham, his appeal was upheld. Paratici’s ban reverted back to the original ‘inibizione temporanea’. He was free to work in football again, as long as he did not act for a club in certain specified circumstances. Beyond the specifics of what he was restricted from, there was an awful lot that he could do.
From that point, Paratici was free to advise Levy and help guide Tottenham through the summer of transition they were facing. He could not formally lead the process to choose Conte’s successor — as he would have done had his CONI appeal succeeded — but he could still shape its direction. So Paratici continued to divide his time between Turin and Mayfair, advising Spurs in his unofficial capacity, returning to London whenever Spurs needed him. Some staff were surprised when they started to bump into him again at the training ground as if nothing had happened.
At the end of last season, Paratici was back sounding out potential candidates for the job and offering his advice on the options. One candidate dropped out in part because he could never be fully certain who was in charge of football matters at Tottenham.
This does not mean that Paratici has been running the club since his resignation. If that was the case, then Luis Enrique, Paratici’s preferred choice, would have been appointed as head coach, rather than Postecoglou. But even after Postecoglou’s appointment, Paratici continued to advise on player recruitment, especially before the recruitment structure was in place, and they needed his expertise more than ever before. Johan Lange, with whom Paratici now liaises, did not arrive as technical director until October.
Paratici pushed to land the signing of James Maddison, convincing him to join Spurs ahead of Newcastle United. He pushed to get Alejo Veliz from Rosario Central. The signing of Vicario from Empoli was approved by Paratici, although ultimately Postecoglou chose him ahead of other candidates for the role. The same goes for Van de Ven, although Leonardo Gabbanini told The Athletic last year that his signing was “the thing I am most proud of at Tottenham”.
Every successful signing has a thousand fathers but with Spurs’ 2023 summer intake, it all comes back to Paratici. (Timo Werner, who arrived on loan from RB Leipzig this week, is a rare example of a Spurs signing this season which was not orchestrated by Paratici.)
The success of these signings — and the ones Paratici made before — has helped rebuild his image. Nothing in football changes perceptions faster than what happens on the pitch. And this half-season has been a personal success for Paratici, even if he has spent it in the rather unusual position of not having a formal role at a club. He is often seen at Spurs games (as a guest of friends rather than the club), celebrating the goals as if he were still running the show, high-fiving fans and making time for photos and autographs. He carries himself with an air of triumph, even vindication.
Romero has been integral to Spurs’ aggressive high-line defence, and they have desperately missed him during his various absences. Kulusevski has started 19 of Spurs’ 20 league games and has shone not only out on the right but in a new role as a creative No 8.
🇮🇹 Don Fabio Paratici attending #thfc‘s game against Brentford today!
📸 @n17ko___ pic.twitter.com/ABIO4XnJ0y
— Daily Hotspur (@Daily_Hotspur) August 13, 2023
Udogie has taken to Premier League football so quickly, adjusting not just to the league but to Postecoglou’s unique understanding of the full-back role, that his £15m fee from Udinese already looks like a bargain. Then there is Sarr, only trusted to make two Premier League starts last season but already an integral, dynamic part of Postecoglou’s midfield. Again, his transfer fee of roughly £15million from Metz is proving to be a snip. Udogie and Sarr, both 21, have recently been rewarded with long-term deals at Spurs to recognise their status among the best young players in the league.
Vicario has been a revelation in goal, allowing Spurs to build up from the back while single-handedly keeping Tottenham in games. He has made the transition away from Hugo Lloris smoother than anyone could have imagined. Maddison and Van de Ven started the season brilliantly, allowing Postecoglou to implement his style from day one, before both got injured in November. Put them all together and the team that Paratici built is giving Spurs fans their most exciting start to a season for years.
And those waves of optimism and momentum have effectively washed away the debate that raged about Paratici last season. The details of the ‘plusvalenza’ scandal, the inflated transfer fees, the curious swap deals, they have all been washed away into history. For better or worse, they do not carry the same weight that they did when they first came to light. Even the criminal case against Paratici is dragging on slowly back in Italy with no promise of a trial any time soon.
Last season, many people connected with Tottenham felt that the club’s association with Paratici, and their standing by him despite his ban, was a reputational stain on the club. (That argument was made by myself on The Athletic, too.) But stains can eventually fade. And if Tottenham took a gamble that, by 2024, people would not be too concerned with what happened at Juventus years ago, then maybe they were correct.
None of this means that what Paratici did at Juventus was right, or that Tottenham’s decision to re-structure the club back in 2021 to bring him in was especially clever or far-sighted. Bringing Paratici in when the Juventus allegations were hanging over him still brought plenty of unwanted scrutiny to Spurs — and to Levy’s decision-making — at a time when results on the pitch could not justify it.
The reality of football is that discussions about strategy, even morality, are informed by what happens on the pitch. Last season, Spurs were a mess and so the Paratici scandal — he resigned three days before Spurs lost 6-1 at Newcastle United — looked like another part of a story of a club who had lost their way. Now Spurs are winning again, fans can forgive the indiscretions of the man who has signed half the team.
(Top photo: Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
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