Tottenham in ‘intensive talks’ to sign man who took Schlotterbeck to Dortmund | OneFootball

Tottenham are in ‘intensive talks’ to complete a deal to bring Sebastien Kehl to north London as their new director of football, according to reports.

Nordi Mukiele’s 61st-minute goal gave Sunderland a 1-0 win on Sunday as Tottenham lost their first match under new head coach Roberto De Zerbi

Tottenham are now in the Premier League relegation zone with just six matches left to play and two points adrift of West Ham, who occupy the place above them.

De Zerbi seems to be ready to continue managing Tottenham even if they are relegated to the Championship and now they are looking to improve other areas of their football operation.

German newspaper Sport Bild (via Sport Witness) claims that Spurs are in ‘intensive talks’ to fill the gap left by Fabio Paratici, who recently left to join Serie A side Fiorentina.

There has also been speculation that Tottenham sporting director Johan Lange could soon leave the club after their poor Premier League performance this season.

HSV Hamburg are another of Kehl’s suitors with the Bundesliga side hoping to make him their new board member for sport, while Tottenham are looking at other options too, including FC Augsburg’s Stefan Reuter.

Kehl made some impressive signings during his time as Borussia Dortmund director of football, most notably bringing Nico Schlotterbeck from Freiburg.

Tottenham will need to make a lot of changes to their squad in the summer, whether they stay up or go down, and Jamie Carragher has explained why they weren’t “unlucky” to lose to a deflected Mukiele strike on Sunday.

Analysing the Sunderland goal on Sky Sports, Carragher said: “You’ve got five Tottenham players here almost like a cage, all facing Mukiele.

“He [Mukiele] has to go there [pointing down the line]. It can’t be any other way. So five players around. So when you say you’re unlucky, that, for me, is not unlucky. That can’t be allowed to happen.

“The two biggest culprit to me are the two midfield players, Archie Gray and Conor Gallagher, in this position.

“If I tell you now, this where somebody is going to score from [points to the edge of the box] that is not unlucky. It’s not. It can’t be.”

While Roy Keane took aim at Tottenham’s midfield pairing, he added: “They’re not great technically on the ball, and they’re not comfortable getting the ball, then they better be good defensively.

“Gallagher has just got to slow down there. It’s far too easy. And Archie Gray has got to get out there [to close down Mukiele], leave the runner. That’s far too easy.

“And when you’re when you’re down there fighting for your lives, these are big moments. And again, it’s not unlucky. It’s got to be stopped earlier.

“It’s a bit of football intelligence, spot the danger. Again, slow it down and show them into wide areas. That, to me, that’s the basics. You’ve got to do the basics right when you’re down there.”