Big news out of Germany today — Tottenham Hotspur are currently working to appoint a new Sporting Director, ostensibly to either work alongside, or above, Johan Lange. But whoever Spurs do end up appointing for the role, it will not be former Dortmund Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl. BILD’s Florian Plettenberg is reporting today that after several rounds of negotiations, talks have broken down between Kehl and Spurs.
Plettenberg’s tweet doesn’t reveal what caused talks to break down, but there is reporting from Sky Germany’s Patrick Berger that suggested the key point of contention was none other than Roberto De Zerbi. Since his appointment, De Zerbi has been given a huge and influential role in player scouting and acquisition, and apparently Kehl did not want to join the club for that reason, with the implication being that he did not want to be overruled in club direction and strategy by the head coach.
Sebastian Kehl (46/🇩🇪) has rejected Tottenham Hotspur’s offer. After concrete negotiations and multiple meetings in London, no agreement could be reached. ❌
Talks were constructive, but differing views on the club’s strategic direction ultimately proved decisive.
One of the dealbreakers was also that head coach Roberto De Zerbi will now be given greater influence within the sporting structure. @Plettigoal @SkySportDE
I have no idea who Spurs are targeting for the position, but Kehl’s reasons for walking away from talks are a pretty significant red flag. I can understand a potential Sporting Director not wanting to walk into a position where he isn’t the one guiding the overall direction of the club. If De Zerbi is indeed mostly calling the shots, I suspect Kehl won’t be the only one to have some reservations about stepping into what could be a politically complicated job. It almost sounds like Spurs have made De Zerbi into a defacto manager-Sporting Director role, and if they’ve done that then why bother bringing in a Sporting Director at all, especially if his power is diluted by a popular and (thus far) successful head coach?
But as I mentioned when Kehl’s name first surfaced for this position a few months ago, I’m also not entirely convinced Kehl was the right person for the job anyway. Kehl accrued a significant amount of resistance from Dortmund fans for what he did while at the Bundesliga club; he was, after all, let go from that job and there are some that blame him for Dortmund falling farther behind Bayern Munich over the past few years.
So this might be a blessing in disguise, but it does make me wonder about a) Johan Lange’s current role and whether the club are still expecting to cut ties with him, and b) knowing what we know now about the role, who would want to take it?
