The January transfer window may have closed but that did not stop Tottenham being hit by a significant departure on Wednesday afternoon.
Steve Hitchen, who accepted the role of chief scout at Spurs in 2017, was promoted to technical performance director three years later.
But he has become increasingly marginalised since the arrival of director of football Fabio Paratici in the summer and has handed in his resignation at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Hitchen has been strongly linked with the director of football role at Everton as the Toffees look to regain some stability. Newcastle are also interested in making the 45-year-old part of the new regime.
As chief scout throughout an impressive time in Tottenham's history, Hitchen has played a huge part in the arrival of a number of players, including Lucas Moura.
The Brazilian was signed by Spurs in the January transfer window of 2018 and, after scoring twice in a 3-0 win against Manchester United at the start of the next season, manager Mauricio Pochettino heaped praise on Hitchen.
"Yes, many, many praise he is going to receive now," said Pochettino said of Moura's display after the game.
"But for me I want to say to our chief scout Steve Hitchen and all the people that worked with him, because they advised to sign him.
"When the people sometimes criticise because always it is tough now, I think I need to say well done, because today's performance from Lucas Moura, for the people that advised and feel responsible too, they need to be praised too.
"That is why I want to congratulate them. There are always people who are working behind and it was a fantastic job because today I think Lucas deserves a lot of credit."
Hitchen's role changed following the arrival of Paratici. Instead of focusing on recruitment as in previous windows, he began undertaking an overhaul of Tottenham's scouting set-up and network to ensure it becomes one of the game's best
The decision will likely leave Paratici in complete control of footballing activities going forward.
