Nuno Espirito Santo and Rafael Benitez are not unfamiliar faces when it comes to Premier League football. Their return to the league ahead of the 2021-2022 season marks another chapter in their managerial career in the league.
Recall that Nuno Espirito Santo was named the manager of Tottenham Hotspur in less than two months after he left his position as the manager of Southampton. He struggled so much with Southampton in the 2020-2021 season to the extent the club finished the season on the 15th spot.
Despite his struggle with Southampton, Nuno Espirito Santo became the best available option left for Tottenham Hotspur to go for after spending months searching for a new manager.
Recall that since mid-April when Tottenham Hotspur sacked Jose Mourinho due to a poor run of games, the club has not heard a permanent coach.
The fans wanted a coach with a proven winning mentality but the club never stops complaining of the financial difficulties they are battling with. Yet, they tried to fulfill the desire of the fans by trying to bring in a top coach.
Tottenham Hotspur tried to lure their former coach, Mauricio Pochettino to leave Paris Saint Germain for the Premier League club. Unfortunately, nothing concrete came out of the attempt.
They tried to lure the trio of Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, and Erik ten Hag but none of them agreed to join the club. They also tried to go for Antonio Conte, Paulo Fonseca, and Gennaro Gattuso, the attempt collapsed dramatically.
After the dramatic period at Tottenham Hotspur, the club decided to go for Nuno Espirito Santo even though he is not a favorite of most fans of the club.
Tottenham gave the Portuguese tactician a two-year deal which could be cut short if he fails to return the club that finished 9th last season to at least the top four.
“I am so happy to be here. My promise to you, we are going to make you proud”, Nuno Espirito Santo said after sealing the deal with the London-based club.
🔊 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗡 🔊
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 30, 2021
Nuno’s message to Spurs fans around the world.
#WelcomeNuno pic.twitter.com/ErqTWZ8JEI
On the other hand, Rafael Benitez has returned to the Premier League again, Merseyside in particular where he had the best of his managerial career during his time at Liverpool football club (2004-2010).
Despite leaving Liverpool in 2010 and went on to coach numerous clubs across Europe and in China, the family of the Spanish tactician remained in Merseyside. He even had to abandon a lucrative 2-year deal a Chinese club, Dalian Professional offered him and returned to Merseyside in January 2021 to reunite with his family.
Hence, he could not say no when Everton decided to appoint him to replace Carlo Ancelotti who abandoned the club to join Real Madrid this summer.
Our new manager. pic.twitter.com/1FulLthzyF
— Everton (@Everton) June 30, 2021
With Benitez at the arm of affairs at Everton and Nuno Espirito Santo in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, the 2021-2022 season could become more difficult to win than ever especially now that other top clubs are trying to buy more football stars this summer.
