Former Tottenham Hotspur manager André Villas-Boas has had “massive disputes” with his board over a failed transfer.
The player in question is former Wolves midfielder Joao Moutinho, who was heavily linked with a move to several Premier League clubs before joining the West Midlands side for around £5m in 2018 from Ligue One side AS Monaco.
The Portuguese foreigner has been a popular operator and has made over two hundred appearances for Wolves during his five years at the club. He was due to return to Porto this summer, but he ended up joining rivals Braga on a one-year deal. deal.
Villas-Boas stood out as the next big player in control when he joined Chelsea in 2011, but was sacked after less than a year in charge.
The 46-year-old took charge of Spurs ahead of the 2012/13 campaign but was sacked after around 18 months in charge. His career has faltered since then, with unsuccessful stints at Zenit St. Petersburg, Shanghai SIPG and Marseille.
Villas-boas has now reflected on his move to Spurs. His interest in Moutinho was born in the summer of 2012, when the 37-year-old was still at Porto.
The manager has revealed that Spurs are more willing to sign Moussa Dembele than Moutinho.
“I wanted to sign Joao Moutinho and he is sixth on the list drawn up by the people of knowledge,” Villas-Boas said at the Web Summit in Lisbon. “First on the list [Moussa] Dembélé and we ended up signing him. “
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“It tired me emotionally to the point that here is a guy whose knowledge does not show everything that he represents from a coach’s point of view, who is a player who knows your leadership, a player who knows your style, who adapts to your style.
“You can quantify it, but you have to do it from the coach’s point of view and not just from a point of view. That was the challenge at the beginning and we had big discussions at the beginning because of that with Moutinho.
“We signed Dembélé but we lost Moutinho and that is a shame because we were going to build a very strong midfield.
“This is exactly where you need that balance to perceive what your coaching philosophy is and how you want to incorporate it into the knowledge that has been provided to you. “
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