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Sergio Reguilon in action for Man Utd.

Where are they now? The 10 signings Jose Mourinho made as Tottenham boss

Ben Stewart •

Jose Mourinho spent a year and a half as the Tottenham boss and it’s fair to say that the 10 signings he made during his time with the club were a bit of a mixed bag.

The Special One finished sixth in the Premier League during his first season with the club and was then let go in the following campaign after an inconsistent run of results. Mourinho had a few memorable moments in north London, but his spell on the whole wasn’t the most productive.

We’ve gone back through Mourinho’s time as Tottenham boss and have checked out where his 10 signings are today.

Gedson Fernandes

In an attempt to build up their midfield, Mourinho signed Fernandes on loan from Benfica in January 2020. The Portuguese international became Mourinho’s first signing as Tottenham boss, but he didn’t make much of an impression.

During his loan stint with Tottenham, Fernandes only made seven Premier League appearances and his planned 18-month loan spell was ultimately cut short due to a lack of action.

He’s since found a home for himself in Turkey and now stars for Besiktas alongside the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arthur Masuaku.

Steven Bergwijn

The Dutch winger arrived from PSV with a lot of hype. Mourinho splashed a reported £26.7million fee to land the dynamic wide-man, but after a promising start to life in London, he soon faded into the background.

Throughout his three years with Tottenham, Bergwijn only managed 25 Premier League starts as he often found himself behind the likes of Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura and later Dejan Kulusevski in the pecking order.

The 26-year-old called it quits on his Spurs career in 2022 to join Ajax for a club-record fee. Bergwijn is now seen as the main man for the Dutch giants and his record of 33 goal contributions in 65 matches thus far isn’t too shabby.

Giovani Lo Celso

The Argentine playmaker was originally signed on loan by Mauricio Pochettino, but it was under Mourinho that the deal became permanent. Lo Celso has shown bursts of quality in a Spurs shirt, but overall his spell in the Premier League has been pretty underwhelming.

He spent the last two seasons out on loan with Villarreal and has often struggled to replicate his form with the national side at club level.

Barcelona were heavily linked with the playmaker throughout the summer, but Tottenham rejected their advances. Following an injury to James Maddison, Lo Celso has been handed some more first-team opportunities under Ange Postecoglou and he was on target in their recent games against Aston Villa and Manchester City.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

“Pierre is, first of all, very intelligent. He reads the game very well. He’s going to be a coach one day, for sure,” Mourinho told reporters in a press conference in 2020.

The Danish midfielder was linked with a reunion with Mourinho in the summer, but his move to Roma didn’t materialise in the end. Hojbjerg hasn’t been a regular starter under Postecoglou, but he has been handed more opportunities of late thanks to Tottenham’s injury crisis of late.

Joe Hart

At his peak, Hart was one of the best goalkeepers in Europe with Manchester City. However, by the time he arrived at Tottenham on a free transfer in 2020, his powers had waned and he only played a bit-part role under Mourinho.

Since leaving north London, he’s settled at Celtic and has now racked up over 100 appearances for the Scottish giants. With five trophies under his belt at Celtic Park, the 36-year-old seems to be enjoying life in Scotland.

Matt Doherty

The Irish defender had his ups and downs while in north London. Doherty initially struggled to adapt his game under Mourinho, but the right-back has since insisted that he only has himself to blame for things not working out.

“I let him [Mourinho] down,” Doherty told the Irish Independent. “People think he was bad for me, but it was the other way around. He put a lot of faith in me and I didn’t really perform. I just didn’t play well, I just didn’t grasp it…I don’t know. I just wasn’t able to get going there at the start.”

After two and a half years with the club, Doherty had his contract terminated in January so he could join Atletico Madrid. His spell in Spain was short-lived though and he’s since returned to the Premier League with Wolves.

Gareth Bale

While Bale wasn’t quite the same player upon his return to Tottenham, he still gave the Spurs fans some memorable moments. With the Welshman out of the picture at Real Madrid, Spurs snapped him up on a season-long loan move in 2020-21.

In total, Bale produced 19 goal contributions on his return to north London which isn’t shabby whatsoever. He’s since hung up his boots and is no doubt loving life on a golf course somewhere.

Sergio Reguilon

There was plenty of hype surrounding Reguilon in his early days for Real Madrid and Tottenham probably thought they’d got themselves a steal when they snapped him up for £27.5million.

Ultimately, the Spanish full-back has struggled to deliver the goods on a regular basis for Spurs and he’s spent the last year and a half out on loan. He’ll be looking to make an impression with Man Utd this season in the hopes of getting his career back on track.

Carlos Vinicius

His highlight at Spurs was a hat-trick he scored against eighth-tier opposition Marine in the FA Cup. That probably sums up the striker’s loan spell with Tottenham.

Vinicius was useful enough in the cup competitions against inferior opposition, but he struggled to replicate the same sort of form in the Premier League. Unsurprisingly, Tottenham opted against signing him on a permanent basis, although he’s since found himself back in the Premier League with Fulham.

Joe Rodon

Mourinho’s final signing as Tottenham boss. It’s a shame Rodon didn’t get much of an opportunity at Spurs following his big-money move from Swansea in the summer of 2020.

The Welsh international spent last season on loan with Rennes and has been loaned out to Championship outfit Leeds United this time around. Rodon has already established himself as a fan favourite with the Elland Road faithful and we wouldn’t be surprised if a permanent move is on the cards next year.

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