One Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has become the first player to send a message to outgoing manager Thomas Frank.
Wednesday morning saw Tottenham make the decision to sack Thomas Frank, with the club clearly recognising that relegation is a clear possibility.
Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham suggested Frank needed to be fired, and this recommendation was accepted by the Lewis Family.
It is not yet known how the Tottenham first-team squad feel about the Spurs hierarchy’s decision, but there were rumours that Frank had lost faith from parts of the dressing room.
Joao Palhinha sends a message to Thomas Frank
Joao Palhinha has become the first Tottenham Hotspur player to send Frank a message since his departure, and it does not give much away about his feelings on the matter.
The Portuguese midfielder simply posted “Thank you for everything coach,” on his Instagram story, with a picture of the pair standing together pitchside.
Palhinha was not selected to start as Spurs suffered a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle, in what turned out to be Frank’s final game. However, he did replace Yves Bissouma at half-time, making his 34th appearance in all competitions under the Dane’s leadership.
Palhinha’s Tottenham future is currently unknown
There was a period when Palhinha was starting for Spurs every week, but Frank eventually gave in to the pressure not to keep pairing him with Rodrigo Bentancur.
As a result of this, the 30-year-old has been used as a substitute on a number of occasions, leading to questions over whether it is worth signing him permanently.
Reports back in October tended to suggest that Tottenham would indeed sign Palhinha permanently for £26m, but a lot has changed since then.
Ultimately, it will be up to the new manager to decide if Palhinha is wanted, and this could well depend on the style of play he chooses to implement.
One London rival is expected to pounce if Tottenham do not sign Palhinha.
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