Tottenham’s move for Gennaro Gattuso as manager collapses

Tottenham’s search for manager has suffered setback as the London club have have decided to abandon their pursuit of Gennaro Gattuso.

The club’s managerial search took a surprise twist on Thursday when they aborted their attempts to appoint former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca at the last minute and opened talks with Gattuso.

However, Spurs have now ruled the Italian out of the race after holding brief talks with him.

Fonseca had agreed to join Spurs and begun discussions with new managing director of football Fabio Paratici about their plans for the squad and the makeup of his coaching staff.

However, with the confirmation of Fonseca’s appointment seemingly imminent, Spurs chose to walk away.

Spurs insisted financial issues were not behind their change of heart and it was simply a call to go in a different direction made by the club’s hierarchy.

The sudden availability of Gattuso was believed to be one factor in Spurs’s decision after he walked away from his new job with Fiorentina on Thursday after just 23 days in the post.