Daniel Levy releases short statement after sacking of Jose Mourinho confirmed

Matthew Briggs 19 Apr 2021 11:07 AM

Tottenham have confirmed the departure of boss Jose Mourinho after Daniel Levy called the Portuguese boss to a meeting on Monday.

After a poor run of Premier League form left them struggling to make the top six, plus exits from the FA Cup and Europa League, Levy has decided to pull the trigger. It ends a 16-month tenure at the north London giants and cuts his contract short by more than two years.

The club confirmed Ryan Mason will “take first-team training today and a further update will follow in due course”.

Mourinho will depart, along with his coaching staff, Spurs confirmed in a statement.

A Tottenham statement 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.”

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.”

The 2-2 draw at Everton on Friday night leaves Spurs seventh in the table, five points adrift of the Champions League places. And that has been enough for Levy to fire the former Manchester United boss.

The shock sacking comes less than a week before the Carabao Cup final.

The 58-year-old has paid the price for a disappointing campaign, with Spurs currently seventh in the Premier League and with little chance of making the top four.

That may not prove to be too much of an issue, given Tottenham’s involvement in the controversial European Super League – but Mourinho will not be the man to lead them in the new breakaway competition should it materialise.

Mourinho has also been denied the chance of delivering a first piece of silverware to the club in 13 years, with Spurs set to take on Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday.

Expensive Spurs mistake

The sacking of Mourinho will cost Spurs in excess of £30m.

Mourinho penned a contract until the summer of 2023. And reports in Portugal in February claimed Levy was completely against the idea of dismissing Mourinho mid season.

Indeed, trusted journalist David Ornstein also said there is no break-clause in the arrangement. That would mean that sacking him would hit Tottenham seriously hard in the pocket.

Indeed, A Bola claims that axing him would cost Spurs in excess of £30m.