Jose Mourinho questions Tottenham decision to sack Nuno Espirito Santo after Antonio Conte hired

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has questioned the club’s decision to sack Nuno Espirito Santo and replace him with Antonio Conte.

The ex-Wolves boss’ reign lasted just 17 matches in North London as the side struggled for goals and played some dour football, with Daniel Levy sacking his second Portuguese manager in just over six months after dismissing Mourinho back in April.

Asked about the changes at his former club, Mourinho backed the managerial ability of his compatriot and suggested he needed more time to build a team in his own image, telling Sky Italy: “Nuno Espirito Santo did a great job at Wolverhampton, not in a year or a few months, but in four or five years.”

Mourinho added: “I can say that now [Tottenham] have a very good coach, but even before they had a very good coach.”

Nuno was well down the shortlist produced by the Spurs hierarchy in the summer as they searched for a new permanent boss, eventually being given the job after coaches like Paolo Fonseca, Gennaro Gattuso and Conte himself had been approached.

Mourinho, on the other hand, moved back to Serie A with AS Roma, taking Fonseca’s old job. The 58-year-old previously won five trophies, including two league titles and one Uefa Champions League, in a spell with Inter Milan between 2008 and 2010. Now in the capital, his Roma side sits fourth in the table, 12 points behind leaders Napoli, and he recently endured the heaviest defeat of his career after the Giallorossi lost 6-1 away at Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League.

Both Mourinho and Espirito Santo are clients of the super agent Jorge Mendes, who runs the GestiFute agency which represent mostly Portuguese coaches and players, including Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Liverpool’s Diogo Jota, and Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo.

Conte will take charge of his first Spurs match on Thursday evening against Vitesse Arnhem.