Nuno Wolves 2020-21Getty

Nuno Espirito Santo announced as new Tottenham head coach after protracted search for Jose Mourinho successor

Tottenham's long search for a new manager is at an end, after they announced the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo.

Nuno, who left Wolves at the end of the 2020-21 season, replaces Jose Mourinho in the hotseat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs went 72 days without a permanent manager after sacking their old boss just before the Carabao Cup final.

Spurs thereafter were linked with, and rejected by, several candidates before confirming Nuno on Wednesday evening.

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Nuno announced

Spurs have confirmed their new manager has signed a two-year contract until 2023, after a successful four-year stint at Molineux.

Wolves won the Championship in his first campaign, before earning consecutive seventh-place finishes in their first two seasons back in the top flight, their highest league position since 1980.

He also took Wolves to the 2019-20 Europa League quarter-finals, and will be tasked with a similar run in Europe with Spurs, who enter next season's UEFA Conference League.

What has been said?

The new Spurs manager told the club website: “When you have a squad with quality and talent, we want to make the fans proud and enjoy. It’s an enormous pleasure and honour, there’s joy and I’m happy and looking forward to starting work. We don’t have any days to lose and we must start working immediately as pre-season starts in a few days.”

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy added: “We should like to thank our supporters for all their patience throughout this process.

"I’ve spoken already about the need to revert back to our core DNA of playing attacking, entertaining football and Fabio and I believe Nuno is the man who can take our talented group of players, embrace our young players coming through and build something special.”

Nuno arrives following the appointment of former Juventus boss Fabio Paratici after their new managing director of football, to oversee transfers as well as playing a role in Nuno's appointment.

Paratici said: “The brief for this appointment has always been clear, we wanted a head coach that can instil all the values that are important to this club.

"You only have to look at Nuno’s time at Wolves to see his ability to take a group of players and implement an adaptive style that brings success and allows players to develop and thrive. We are all looking forward to getting started in what we hope will be a successful time with the club.”

Tottenham's long search ends

Spurs have been looking to replace Mourinho for more than two months, with Ryan Mason overseeing the first team on an interim basis for their Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City and the end of the Premier League campaign.

In that time, they have been linked with several high-profile coaches and were rejected by most of them.

Antonio Conte was close to a deal to take over, but the former Chelsea and Inter boss turned down a deal before admitting that he was left unconvinced by the project. They were then linked to Paulo Fonseca, the man that Mourinho coincidentally replaced at Roma, before those talks broke down amid links to Gennaro Gattuso.

Gattuso too walked away from negotiations, with Italy star Lorenzo Insigne saying that "a bit of mess" at Tottenham was responsible for his former boss' snub. Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui also turned down Spurs, according to the club's president Jose Castro.

They were also heavily linked with Julian Nagelsmann, Hansi Flick and Erik ten Hag, among even more names.

Nuno meanwhile was reportedly on the verge of taking the Crystal Palace job before a last-minute change of heart, and was also linked with Everton before they appointed Rafael Benitez earlier on Wednesday.

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