Fabio Paratici is almost like a godfather for many Tottenham Hotspur fans. In more than one way, a section of their fanbase believes that the Italian director’s impressive transfer business laid the foundations for their ongoing success.
Paratici played a key role in their transfer activity during his time as Spurs’ managing director of football. He made some really clever signings that are now reflecting positively under Ange Postecoglou. Indeed, signing left-back Destiny Udogie from Udinese was his idea in the 2022 before he was loaned back for the 22/23 season.
The former Juventus director had also identified goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and played a key role in convincing the club to sign him. Just as he was given the responsibility to find a successor for Antonio Conte earlier this year, Paratici was rocked by a FIFA ban.
The director was accused of false accounting at Juventus and given a worldwide 30-month ban from football by FIFA. He tried his best to appeal against it, but that ended up failing. Soon after that, Paratici ended up resigning from his role at Tottenham in April.
Despite that, a lot of Spurs fans are indebted to him for his impressive work at the club in under two years or so. Not just the likes of Udogie and Vicario, but Paratici was instrumental in signing winger Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from his former club Juventus. What helped him earn more praise is that Tottenham never seemingly overpaid for the players, always getting them in value-for-money deals.
Paratici has disappeared like a ghost from football ever since resigning from his role at Spurs. The Lilywhites have gone onto rope in former Melbourne City FC executive Scott Munn to become their new Chief Football Officer. After that, they also announced that former Aston Villa man Johan Lange would also take up their technical director role.
In simple terms, both would work together to fulfil the duties that Paratici was responsible for during his time with the Lilywhites. The Italian director is currently trying to lay low because there are criminal investigations still on going around him. He is currently trying his best to reduce his ban period and appeal to different sporting bodies around Italy.
Possible consultancy role
Amid all this, one Tottenham Hotspur fan in England was lucky to actually bump into the Italian director recently. The supporter was just working their shift in presumably an eatery when Paratici visited it. They managed to take a snap with the Italian, giving a glimpse of how he looks after being under the radar for the last six months.
Paratici definitely seems to have grown more weary with the tension of this ban laid against him. But Tottenham fans are delighted to see him doing well. Some even joked that this might be from inside a jail, but that isn’t the case at all. While there were criminal charges laid against him earlier this year, Paratici was never arrested for any of his accusations.
He is currently trying his best to clear his name and get back into the football management scene. In fact, some reports have even claimed that Paratici continues to work with Spurs in an unofficial role. He has reportedly been working in an advisory role with the club and helped with their summer rebuild, aiding them in securing the deals to sign James Maddison and Vicario.
Paratici can’t exactly be charged by FIFA if he works in an unofficial advisory role and isn’t directly benefiting from their success. It appears that Spurs still admire his impressive work for the club and might be willing to take him back once his ban is either lifted or the suspension period expires.