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Reuters and AFP
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Tottenham Hotspur are to appoint former Juventus boss Igor Tudor as interim manager until the end of the season, while Nottingham Forest are set to appoint Vitor Pereira as their fourth manager this season, British media reports said.
Spurs on Wednesday sacked Thomas Frank with the club five points above the relegation zone.
Tudor, who has managed several clubs across Europe, including Galatasaray and Olympique de Marseille, last led Italian Serie A side Juventus, and reports said on Friday he has agreed a short-term deal to manage the North London club.
Then-Juventus coach Igor Tudor looks on before their Italian Serie A match against Como in Como, Italy, on Oct. 19 last year.
Photo: Reuters
The 47-year-old guided Juve to a fourth-place finish in Serie A last season, but the Croatian was sacked in October last year — seven months after his appointment — following an eight-match winless run across all competitions.
Tudor is to have a baptism of fire when he takes charge of his first match against English Premier League leaders and bitter rivals Arsenal in the North London derby on Feb. 22.
Tottenham are currently 16th in the Premier League standings.
A former centerback who spent the majority of his career at Juventus, Tudor won back-to-back Serie A titles as a player from 2001 to 2003 and also reached the 2003 UEFA Champions League final.
He began his managerial journey with Hajduk Split in 2013, while he is familiar with Spurs players Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur having been an assistant to Andrea Pirlo at Juventus in 2020-2021 when the duo were at the Italian club.
The former Croatia international espouses an aggressive style of play built on pressing high up the pitch, with his teams also relying on quick transitions.
Meanwhile, Premier League strugglers Forest moved for Pereira after sacking Sean Dyche following Wednesday’s 0-0 draw against bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Talks have progressed swiftly, and a contract is believed to have been agreed, with the deal set to be announced soon.
Pereira had been out of work since being sacked by Wolves in November last year after a dismal start to the season.
The Portuguese coach had saved Wolves from relegation last season after taking over from Gary O’Neil, but was unable to build on that success this season.
He has previously worked under volatile Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis at Greek club Olympiakos.
Pereira’s first game as Forest manager is to be next week’s Europa League play-off round first leg at Fenerbahce.
However, his main target is to preserve Forest’s Premier League status.
They sit three points above the relegation zone with 12 games to go.
Forest had 35 shots on goal against Wolves, but could not find a way through, and Dyche was dismissed just hours after the final whistle at the City Ground.
The 54-year-old was in charge for just 114 days, making him the third boss axed by Marinakis this season after Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou.
