Tottenham Hotspur's failure to appoint a director of football ahead of their pre-season tour to Australia is a concern, podcaster Chris Cowlin has claimed.
What's going on at Tottenham?
Spurs are still facing a difficult period off the pitch, as despite finding a manager in Ange Postecoglou, a director of football is yet to be appointed to replace Fabio Paratici, and no signings have been made in the transfer window.
A dismal campaign saw Spurs finish in eighth place, and Paratici was dismissed from his role after receiving a ban from football for his involvement in illicit activities during his time at Juventus.
The lack of director means that there may be difficulties operating in the transfer market without a recruitment strategy in place, and with just a few weeks to go until pre-season, this comes at quite a concern for Spurs.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Cowlin bemoaned the lack of progress in appointing a director, whilst also acknowledging the other major changes taking place around the club.
"There are so many players, this is what I mean about this rebuild, this is absolutely massive. This is a huge job. And it does slightly worry me that we're off to Australia in three weeks for the preseason tour and we don't have a director of football," he stated.
"Of course there's been a restructure as well in the academy. Although the academy won two cups at the end of the season, the under 17 and 18s, there's been a complete restructure there.
"That's going to be interesting, Yaya Toure and Dean Rastrick recently leaving, and Greta Stevenson on the verge of leaving. So that's a big thing."
How important is a director of football for Spurs?
Despite the way it ended, Paratici's spell at Spurs saw him use his expertise to help recruit Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus, and both signings were instrumental as Spurs beat rivals Arsenal to a top four spot in 2022.
With a director of football in place, the club can form a strategy about the types of players they bring in, as well as hiring managers to build upon a structure already in place.
Spurs have been catastrophic when hiring managers in recent years, with the likes of Conte, Nuno Espirito Santo and Jose Mourinho all failing to make an impact, with no long-term plan in place of how to replace them.
Hiring a director as soon as possible will be beneficial for Postecoglou's aims in the transfer market, and a long-term strategy in recruitment and sales could help Spurs recover from their slump, both on and off the pitch.
