Tottenham have confirmed Ange Postecoglou as their new head coach.
Postecoglou has signed a four-year deal and will officially start work on July 1, ending a 72-day search for Antonio Conte’s permanent successor. His backroom team has not been confirmed by the club, though Standard Sport understands Postecoglou wants John Kennedy, his assistant manager at Celtic, to join him.
Spurs are understood to be paying Celtic around £5million in compensation for a manager who has won five of six domestic trophies available to him while in Scotland. On Saturday, in his final game in charge, the 57-year-old wrapped up the Treble by beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup final.
In Celtic’s statement this morning, Postecoglou confirmed he turned down a new contract at the Scottish club and said: “While I am so respectful and understanding of their position, a new opportunity has been presented to me and it is one which I wanted to explore.”
Postecoglou has been of interest to Spurs since Conte was sacked in March, although chairman Daniel Levy also held talks with Luis Enrique, the out-of-work former Spain head coach, and considered ex-Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann and Feyenoord’s Arne Slot.
The Greek-born Australian takes his first job in one of Europe’s top five leagues, having spent most of his career Down Under, most notably with Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory, and just over four years in charge of Australia, who he led to the 2014 World Cup. He also spent time in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos.
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Postecoglou is committed to playing a high-octane brand of possession and high-pressing football, which has won him admirers across Europe, while he has also been credited with a number of canny pieces of business in the transfer market and his ability to unify clubs - a few traits which likely attracted Spurs.
