According to sources at Football Insider, Tottenham are in ‘advanced talks’ with recruitment expert Jeff Vetere.
The North London club are ‘close to agreeing a deal’ with the former Aston Villa and Newcastle United man to lead their Under-21s recruitment.
The report states that Vetere is said to be a close friend of Fabio Paratici, who has ‘given the green light’ to the appointment. It also claims that negotiations are close to completion’, and Vetere is ready to start immediately.
Since being fired as Birmingham City director of football in March 2018, at the same time Steve Cotterill was fired as manager, the 56-year-old has not held a senior recruitment position. He does, however, have ‘extensive experience at elite Premier League clubs’ as well as Real Madrid and speaks five languages.
Vetere has worked in the Premier League for Charlton Athletic, West Ham United, Newcastle United, and Fulham. His most senior position was as chief scout at Aston Villa when Gerrard Houllier was manager.
One of the things that Spurs have been recently criticised for is their failure to attract top talent and for allowing rising stars to leave. This was demonstrated further last week when Spurs academy graduate Marcus Edwards played a key role in Sporting Lisbon’s 2-0 Champions League victory over Tottenham.
Conte recently hired a set-piece specialist to address the lack of goals from corners and free-kicks and since the recruitment, there has been an extraordinary transformation in set-plays this season.
And with the recruitment of Vetere, Tottenham will look to address another problem and hope for a shake-up in their youth-team recruitment.
