Tottenham have been knocked back in their bid to recruit Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici, according to Calcio Mercato.
The Italian football site claim that Spurs want to appoint Paratici, 45, as their new director of football, a role that has been vacant since Paul Mitchell quit last year.
Calcio Mercato report that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has been an admirer of the Juventus recruitment chief for years and is willing to hand him the “keys to the market” to oversee their transfers.
It is said that Juventus president Giuseppe Marotta will not allow Paratici to leave either this month or in the summer, while the Italian is also happy to remain at the Serie A giants.
OPINION
It is little wonder that Spurs are keen on Paratici filling their vacant director of football role. He has been an integral figure in Juventus’ dominance of Serie A, which has yielded seven consecutive Scudetto titles and regular places in the Champions League knockout stages. Paratici has helped his club secure dozens of cheap and stunningly good value signings such as Paul Pogba, Sami Khedira and Andrea Pirlo in recent years as he has proved a canny operator in the transfer market in an era in which the Premier League and Spanish clubs have been able to pay the highest salaries.