Meet Johan Lange, Tottenham Hotspur's New Director of Football Candidate
Meet Johan Lange, the latest candidate for the Director of Football role at Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham Hotspur are looking for a new football director to help the team’s success this season.
The London side hopes to attract Aston Villa’s football director Johan Lange to the club.
Spurs hope to fill the vacant position, after Fabio Paratici’s resignation in April.1 Paratici’s exit was prompted by a 30-month ban handed down by FIFA, subsequently partially reduced on appeal, relating to capital gains inflation for player transfers while he was at Juventus.2
Here is everything you should know about the Dane that might replace Paratici.
Who is Johan Lange?
Before ending up in the Premier League with Aston Villa, Lange previously worked at Danish side Copenhagen FC in 2014 as a technical director.3
Lange has a strong ability to find players who are cheap and make a profit. He explained having a strong culture, a proactive strategy, stability among key personnel and a clear style of play was vital to Copenhagen’s success.
“They will go through a development process that will mean they get sold to a club in a top-five league. The idea is that they learn, they improve and then we sell them,” Lange said.
His philosophy at the Danish team has worked, with the team managing to see a profit on their transfers.
In the space of a single season, Jesse Joronen was signed for £800,000 and then sold on to Serie A side Brescia for £4.5m. While Robin Olsen, who was signed for £630,000, was sold to Roma for £8.1m. Showing his plan worked.
Key transfers at Aston Villa
Lange has been in the role at Villa since 2020. The side brought Lange to help them survive in The Premier League.
While at Villa, Lange helped purchase Emi Buendia, Emi Martinez, Philippe Coutinho, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash.4
Martinez has helped the side massively, getting Villa European football this season. The goalkeeper last season had 11 clean sheets in 36 appearances for the team.5 He also helped his national team Argentina win The World Cup. While Watkins managed to score 15 goals in 37 games during the 2022-23 season.6
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West Ham United interest
Despite Spurs’ interest, West Ham United is another club that wants the Dane.
The Hammers are on the lookout for a new sporting director, after outlining plans for an upstairs reshuffle. Lee Dykes of Brentford and Tiago Pinto of Roma are others who are under consideration for the team.7
Despite the interest between Spurs and the Hammers, nothing has been set in concrete. Lange’s departure has been discussed internally at Villa, although nothing has been agreed or formalised yet.
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Conclusion
Lange works well at clubs where the chance of playing European football is not guaranteed.
However, the real question remains: ‘How do Spurs see themselves?’ a team where just achieving European football is fine or a team that wins trophies consistently?
Just making money doesn’t mean a team will be successful. Southampton has made more than £550 million from selling their players, yet the team were relegated last season and now plays in The Championship.8
Aston Villa is still in the Europa League and does have a chance of winning the title. The only way to see if Lange fits at Spurs is to see how Villa finish their season. It’s a gamble to bring him to the London side, however, gambles have worked at Spurs with the team making Ange Postecoglou their manager.
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TOTTENHAM IN TALKS WITH JOHAN LANGE FOR DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL ROLE -https://onefootball.com/en/news/tottenham-in-talks-with-johan-lange-for-director-of-football-role-38339099
Aston Villa man 'held exploratory talks' with Tottenham as they seek to complete a deal - https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aston-villa-figure-considered-role-26992659
FC Copenhagen's transfer triumphs: Johan Lange explains their success -https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11931483/fc-copenhagens-transfer-triumphs-johan-lange-explains-their-success
Aston Villa figure considered for role at Premier League rivals - https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aston-villa-figure-considered-role-26992659
Emiliano Martínez - https://www.premierleague.com/players/4245/Emiliano-Mart%C3%ADnez/stats?co=1&se=489
Ollie Watkins - https://www.premierleague.com/players/8658/Ollie-Watkins/overview
West Ham undertaking thorough search for new director of football -https://www.90min.com/posts/west-ham-undertaking-thorough-search-new-director-football
Southampton most expensive player sales - How Saints made over £550 million in outgoing transfers - https://www.goal.com/en-au/lists/southampton-most-expensive-player-sales-outgoing-transfers/blt4891b59cfa9f986c