Lille president, Gerard Lopez, has revealed that both Joao Sacramento and Nuno Santos had informed him of their desire to leave for a new project before the start of the season.
When Jose Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino at the helm of Tottenham back in November, the club were quick to bring in Sacramento as Mourinho’s assistant and Santos as the new goalkeeping coach.
There were reports indicating that Lille were furious that Tottenham had taken the pair in the middle of a campaign. However, Lopez has now denied that there were any hard feelings on his part, insisting that the pair departed amicably.
While he admitted that he was not expecting Jose Mourinho to be appointed at a club mid-season, he insisted that he remains on good terms with the Spurs boss, as well as Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.
Lopez revealed that both Levy and Mourinho were given his permission to sign Sacramento and Santos.
When asked about losing the pair, the Lille president told The Daily Mail: “I had to read all sorts of c**p about that. The two guys that went (Nuno Santos and Joao Sacramento) came to us in the summer telling us… and this was way before Jose signed at Tottenham.
“They told us that they were maybe looking for the opportunities and if the opportunities came along, if we would allow them to go.
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“We said, both Luis and myself, ‘yes, at the end of the season’, OK. And to be very transparent, we thought Jose would have a job at the end of the season and so yes, they might join him and we talked openly with Jose about it.
“[Jose] called me and said ‘look, what do you think? If we offer the guys’. The CEO of Tottenham (Daniel Levy) called me also and said ‘would you let them go?’
“How would two people go who have a contract with me if I wasn’t OK with that?”
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It does sound as if Mourinho and Levy have a very amicable relationship with Lopez, which could work to our advantage in potential moves for the likes of Victor Osimhen and Boubakary Soumare. Given the fact that Sacramento and Santos know their players well, it would make sense for Spurs to make an approach for a few of their stars, especially considering that Ligue 1 clubs are in need of a cash influx this summer.
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