Spurs must finally axe £53k-p/w flop who was “unstoppable” under Mourinho

2019 is a poignant year for Tottenham. It’s the year they reached the Champions League final and rather shockingly, the same year Mauricio Pochettino was given the boot.

For all of the outstanding work Pochettino did in north London, turning the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane into genuine stars, he left the Lilywhites behind having not won a trophy.

So, what did Levy do? He went and hired one of the most successful managers of the 21st century; Jose Mourinho.

The self-proclaimed Special One has been there and got the t-shirt as far as English football is concerned. He’s a multiple Premier League winner, and a multiple FA Cup winner. He’s even won the Champions League.

Surely he was going to help Spurs earn the trophy they were craving? Think again. It all ended in tears.

Mourinho lasted just 86 games with a points-per-match record of 1.77, the third worst of his career. That rather said it all.

Mourinho’s first transfers at Spurs

Entering in November of 2019, it wasn’t until January 2020 that the great Portuguese coach got the chance to welcome his own players to the capital.

It wasn’t the most rip-roaring start to proceedings, bringing Giovani Lo Celso and Steven Bergwijn to the club. The duo only just left Spurs in the summer but did so having not played very much football.

The summer of 2020 was a tad more promising though. Despite a world ravaged by the global pandemic, he welcomed two faces to the club from Real Madrid.

Mourinho was the one to entice Gareth Bale back to English football, welcoming the Welshman back on a loan deal. Bale was rather forced out of Madrid despite several years of wonderful service, scoring in a Champions League final and winning three LaLiga crowns.

He wasn’t the only player arriving from the Spanish capital, however. Left-back Sergio Reguilon joined and initially started very well in Spurs colours.

Indeed, analyst Raj Chohan admitted that the Spaniard was “unstoppable” at points, notably after a first-class assist for Bale’s goal against Brighton in a 2-1 win.

Remarkably, via loan spells at Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Brentford, he is still on the books at Tottenham.

First Impressions

What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast’s ‘First Impressions’ series has everything you need.

Why it’s time for Reguilon to go

It’s now been four years, some might say arduous years since Reguilon first arrived under the tutelage of Mourinho.

In that first campaign, he proved to be an excellent acquisition, supplying five assists in all competitions from the left-hand side of defence.

In 2021/22, he still impressed in the final third, scoring twice and assisting three goals but he ultimately wasn’t fancied by a ruthless and no-nonsense Antonio Conte who shipped out on loan in 2022/23. Since then, the 27-year-old has struggled to ever really catch the eye.

United only signed him on loan because of a lack of fit left-backs and that deal was cancelled in January 2024. Brentford did come calling and he featured regularly but it wasn’t enough to force himself into Ange Postecoglou’s plans.

Reguilon – who earns £53k-per-week – is still on the books at Spurs but is simply stealing a living at this point.

He’s not played a single minute all season and for the good of everyone, he surely has to leave in the January transfer window. Although he is named in the club’s 25-man Premier League squad, he was omitted from their Europa League squad list.

The Spaniard has gone from being an unstoppable asset during the days of Mourinho to someone with no chance of ever earning minutes again at Spurs. The only good thing for the Londoners is that he is actually out of contract next summer. An end, it would seem, is finally in sight.

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