Tottenham Hotspur and Franco Baldini have parted company, after the club announced the departure by mutual consent of the director of football.

High hopes quickly fading

Having joined the North London side in the summer of 2013, under the recommendation of then manager André Villas-Boas, the 54 year old with a highly respected reputation around Europe, has found life in London more difficult than he may have anticipated.

Villas-Boas had long been championing the idea of a director of football at White Hart Lane, to be in charge of negotiating incomings and outgoings at the club, very publicly in the English media.

The Portuguese boss, and Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, looked to have pulled off a coup when they announced the joining of Baldini from Italian giants AS Roma, following two years in the Italian capital.

A former director of football at Real Madrid, and assistant manager for the English national team, both under Fabio Capello, Baldini had built strong links to a number of agents and managers around the rest of Europe and South America.

However, the honeymoon period quickly faded following the departure of Tottenham icon Gareth Bale for a world record fee to Baldini’s former club in the Spanish capital.

A fateful summer

In just his first summer at Tottenham, Baldini was given the task of spending over £100 million brought in from the sale of Bale among others, Clint Dempsey and Steven Caulker naming just a few, to help Villa-Boas’ side push for a Champions League spot.

Early signs looked promising, with Baldini signing established internationals from around the continent along with a number of younger players with bagfuls of potential.

Spanish international, and Valencia club captain, Roberto Soldado joined for a then club record transfer fee along with Brazilian midfielder Paulinho and French holding midfielder Étienne Capoue, from Corinthians and Toulouse respectively.

The Tottenham hierarchy also approved the signings of Romanian prospect Vlad Chiriches, Roma fan favourite Erik Lamela and Ajax hero Christian Eriksen, as the club continued to gamble on players with no Premier League experience.

Despite starting the season in encouraging fashion, Villas-Boas was put to the sword by December 2013 as his new signings struggled to settle.

Instability at White Hart Lane

Former Tottenham midfielder Tim Sherwood took the reigns until the end of the season, with a number of the signings made by Baldini given very little playing time.

Only Eriksen, and Belgian international Nacer Chadli were given regular playing time as the summer transfer doings at White Hart Lane were looked upon with growing disappointment.

Following Sherwood’s short tenure in charge, former Argentinian international Mauricio Pochettino took over with the aim of reversing the fortunes of a number of those left in the dark by Sherwood.

A summer of sales

With most transfer windows since 2013 being far more subdued, with signings mainly coming from the UK or low risk from Europe, the most recent summer transfer window of 2015 was focused strongly on righting the wrongs of Baldini’s first summer at the helm of White Hart Lane.

Losses were recorded on Soldado, Chiriches, Paulinho and Capoue as a huge rebuilding project was undertaken in the English capital.

It had long been speculated that Baldini would soon follow, and Tottenham have now confirmed his departure ‘by mutual consent’. 

The club went on to wish the midfielder ‘all the best for the future’ as both club and Baldini look to put a disastrous two to a side.

Moving on under Pochettino

Pochettino has already revamped his scouting network at Tottenham, bringing in former Southampton head of recruitment Paul Mitchell and Rob Mackenzie from Leicester City, and the early signs look to be more promising.

Summer recruits Son Heung-Min and Toby Alderweireld have already settled well at Tottenham as Pochettino’s youthful side look to continue their early season form without the guidance of Baldini who will be on the lookout for a new side right away.