‘Utterly terrible choice’: Spurs fans not convinced as ex-Roma boss Fonseca ‘close to agreeing two-year deal’ to succeed Mourinho

After being rebuffed in attempts to persuade Antonio Conte to take the job, it seems Spurs have identified the successor to Jose Mourinho as Paulo Fonseca is reportedly close to agreeing a deal - but some fans aren't happy.

Portuguese boss Fonseca, who brought the curtain down on a two-year spell in the Italian capital with Roma last month, looks set to be installed as the new Tottenham manager after reportedly being recommended for the position by Spurs' new sporting director Fabio Paratici. 

Reports from the UK state that Fonseca has agreed an initial deal for two years which has the option of a further one-year extension.

The appointment, though, has seen the Premier League club look towards the bottom of their managerial shortlist after failing in bids to persuade the likes of Conte, Mauricio Pochettino, Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, and Hansi Flick to take the job. 

Bizarrely, if the move gets rubber-stamped by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy it will complete something of a managerial merry-go-round between Tottenham and Roma, with Fonseca and Mourinho in essence trading jobs after former Spurs boss Mourinho agreed a three-year contract to take over at Roma ahead of next season. 

It is understood that the deal to appoint Fonseca is near completion and, barring any last-minute hiccups, it could be made official when Levy returns from a holiday in the Bahamas with the club's principal shareholder Joe Lewis.

Fonseca's candidacy for the job is thought to rest on his background of developing young talent while also working within the type of strict transfer budgets Levy often forces upon his managers. The Portuguese also has a reputation for playing an eye-catching brand of football and was a candidate to take over at the London club prior to Pochettino's appointment in 2014.

Former Shakhtar Donetsk manager Fonseca guided Roma to the semi-finals of this past season's Europa League where they were dumped out by Manchester United - but Fonseca looks likely to have an opportunity to a measure of personal revenge against Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's men in next season's Premier League.

The move to appoint Fonseca isn't one that has been unanimously endorsed by all sections of the Tottenham support, however. Both Spurs and Roma posted identical records in Serie A and the Premier League respectively, with some suggesting that this represents little more than a lateral move for the Londoners.

"We're finished if we actually appoint that man," said one Spurs fan on Twitter, while another concluded: "Thats them ruled out of a top half finish."

Another branded the move as a poor one, and said that Fonseca won't be accepted by the club's fanbase.

"Utterly terrible choice. Feel sorry for the guy as the fans wont accept him. Levy and ENIC out," they wrote.