Jose Mourinho sacked: Tottenham part company with manager

Portuguese leaves the club seventh in the Premier League, with Sunday’s Carabao Cup final looming

Alex Pattle
Monday 19 April 2021 12:49 BST
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‘My coaching methods second to nobody’, says Jose Mourinho

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Tottenham have sacked Jose Mourinho as manager after a dismal run of form.

The Portuguese, who was in charge from November 2019, leaves the club in seventh place in the Premier League.

The Independent understands that the decision to fire Mourinho was made on Friday evening, following the 2-2 draw with Everton in the top flight, which proved to be the 58-year-old’s final fixture with Spurs.

It is also understood that the former Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid coach will receive £16million in severance pay.

A statement released by Tottenham on Monday read: “The Club can today announce that Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff Joao Sacramento, Nuno Santos, Carlos Lalin and Giovanni Cerra have been relieved of their duties.

“Ryan Mason will take First Team training today and a further update will follow in due course.”

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy added: “Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a Club.

“Jose is a true professional who showed enormous resilience during the pandemic.

“On a personal level I have enjoyed working with him and regret that things have not worked out as we both had envisaged.

“He will always be welcome here and we should like to thank him and his coaching staff for their contribution.”

RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann is the current favourite to replace Mourinho, who took over at Tottenham immediately after the departure of predecessor Mauricio Pochettino.

Spurs are set to take on Southampton in the top flight on Wednesday evening, with their next fixture following on Sunday as they face Man City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

The news of Mourinho’s sacking comes almost exactly one month after Tottenham’s Europa League exit in the round of 16, with a 3-0 second-leg defeat by Dinamo Zagreb overriding Spurs’ 2-0 win in the first leg.

The north London club’s prospects of qualifying for next season’s Champions League took a major hit with that elimination, and with Spurs five points behind fourth-placed West Ham with six games remaining in the Premier League this term, they face a tough task to re-enter the competition.

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