Soccer

Tottenham confident of holding on to Villas-Boas

Spurs believe ambitious plans at White Hart Lane will convince manager to snub PSG’s advances

Tottenham are confident they can hold on to manager Andre Villas Boas. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images
Tottenham are confident they can hold on to manager Andre Villas Boas. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images
Dominic Fifield
Tue Jun 18 2013 - 14:39

Tottenham Hotspur are confident Andre Villas-Boas will remain their head coach next season despite Paris Saint-Germain holding protracted talks with the Portuguese's representative over a move to Parc des Princes.

The French champions are hoping they will finally secure a manager this week to allow Carlo Ancelotti, who steered the club to a first title in 19 years and the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and his backroom staff to join Real Madrid. PSG sounded out a number of possible replacements, including Jose Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrini, Walter Mazzarri and Guus Hiddink, and have declined to pursue Fabio Capello's interest in the role, but Villas-Boas has since emerged as their preferred candidate.

Tottenham finished fifth in the Portuguese's first season at Spurs and Villas-Boas has two years to run on his contract. But his agent, Carlos Goncalves, spent the weekend talking with the PSG owner, Qatari Investment Authority, which has indicated it would be willing to meet a €11.5m release clause in the head coach's contract. Villas-Boas has been on holiday in the Bahamas and has yet to indicate what his intentions are for next season but Spurs believe their ambitious plans to revamp the squad will persuade him to remain at the club.

Franco Baldini has already been recruited as technical director, an appointment Villas-Boas had championed and which will come into effect this month, and attempts at bolstering the side are ongoing. Spurs have bid€17m for the Brazil midfielder Paulinho, of Corinthians, who is also wanted by Internazionale, and are edging closer to securing his compatriot, Leandro Damiao, from Internacional.

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Their arrival would go some way towards complying with the head coach's wishes for significant additions, expressed last month once Spurs had narrowly failed to qualify for the Champions League. The Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, is convinced such a show of strength will be enough to retain the 35-year-old.

Spurs will also attempt to trim their squad, with Fenerbahce having expressed a desire to sign Emmanuel Adebayor, whose first full campaign following a successful loan spell at White Hart Lane yielded only five league goals. The Togo forward cost around €5.8m from Manchester City and the club will seek a similar fee from the ambitious Turkish side, who have turned to Adebayor after being frustrated in their pursuit of Benfica's prolific forward, Oscar Cardozo.