Paratici at Tottenham: How the Milan-bound director fared in the Premier League

VERONA, ITALY – FEBRUARY 08:Fabio Paratici of Juventus looks on during the Serie A match between Hellas Verona and Juventus at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on February 8, 2020 in Verona, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

As Fabio Paratici nears a return to football management with Milan, here is a reminder of how the former Juventus director got on during his spell in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur. 

Reports on Wednesday claim that Milan have found a verbal agreement with Paratici to become the club’s new sporting director once his 30-month ban expires in June. CEO Giorgio Furlani met with the former Juventus and Tottenham executive in London earlier in the week. 

If the deal goes through, Milan will be the first club that Paratici has been involved with during his time in the Premier League with Tottenham, which ended with his resignation in April 2023. 

How did Paratici fare in the Premier League? From Nuno to Conte

Paratici was appointed as Tottenham’s managing director of football in June 2021, effectively responsible for all sporting operations, including the signing of players and the appointment of head coaches. 

His first task in North London was the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo as head coach. On paper, it seemed like a decent appointment at the time given Nuno’s success with Wolverhampton Wanderers previously, and in retrospect, with the success he has found with Nottingham Forest this season.

Things started positively, with Nuno winning the Premier League manager of the month award for August after picking up three wins at the start of the 2021-22 campaign, but for whatever reason, things did not continue clicking after that, and the coach was dismissed in November of that year. 

That led to the hiring of former Italy, Juventus, Inter and current Napoli head coach Antonio Conte. 

Things started to improve under the Italian tactician, who became the first ever Tottenham head coach to go unbeaten across their first eight matches in charge. 

Having taken over with the team in ninth place, Conte pulled off a fourth-place finish and subsequent qualification to the Coppa Campioni. Spurs had finished seventh the season prior, so, despite the change in head coaches, Paraici’s first season was successful in terms of sporting results. 

Paratici’s Tottenham signings: Juventus connections helpful

Paratici had four transfer windows while with Tottenham. The biggest success of his first window in charge was the signing of future World Cup winner Cristian Romero on an initial loan deal from Atalanta. 

It was a complicated deal to pull off, and one that required Paratici to utilise his former Juventus connections, as Romero was still contracted to the Bianconeri, but was then sold to Atalanta, before joining Tottenham on loan with an obligation to buy on the same day. Romero was purchased outright for around €52m the following summer, and though a big investment, the Argentine has cemented himself as a firm fan favourite in North London. 

The signing of Pape Mate Sarr, who was bought from FC Metz before being loaned back for the 2021-22 campaign, has also proved to be a success. 

Other signings in Paratici’s first window were less successful, though, such as Emerson Royal and Bryan Gil, who both cost around €25m each. 

The January transfer window, which was Conte’s first in charge of Tottenham, was fairly successful as well, given the relatively successful signings of Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Paratici and Conte’s former club, Juventus. 

Every Paratici signing at Tottenham 

2021-22

Bryan Gil from Sevilla (€25m)

Emerson Royal from Barcelona (€25m)

Rodrigo Bentanucur from Juventus (€19m)

Pape Matar Sarr from FC Metz (€16.9m)

Dejan Kulusevski on loan from Juventus (€10m loan fee)

Christian Romero on loan from Atalanta (undisclosed)

Pierluigi Gollini on loan from Atalanta (undisclosed)

2022-23 

Richarlison from Everton (€58m)

Cristian Romero from Atalanta (€52m)

Yves Bissouma from Brighton (€29.2m)

Destiny Udogie from Udinese (€18m)

Djed Spence from Middlesbrough (€14.7m)

Pedro Porro on loan from Sporting CP (€5m loan fee)

Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal (€3m loan fee)

Clement Lenglet on loan from Barcelona (undisclosed)

Ivan Perisic from Inter (free)

Fraser Forster from Southampton (free)

How things ended for Paratici at Tottenham 

Paratici’s second season with Tottenham was considerably more chaotic than his first. Though Conte had secured Tottenham’s best ever start to a Premier League season, the team would ultimately finish the season in eighth place, with both the head coach and director of football out of the equation by that point. 

Paratici was handed a 30-month (two-and-a-half year) suspension from the FIGC, later upheld by FIFA as a result of the Plusvalenza investigation into the reporting of fictitious capital gains during his time with Juventus. Juve were also handed a 15-point deduction in Serie A as a result. 

This led to Paratici taking a leave of absence at the end of March 2023, and by the end of the following month, following FIFA’s decision to extend his ban worldwide, he had resigned from his position with Tottenham and has not held a position at a professional club since.