Tottenham have been left red-faced after a scout leaked one of the club’s transfer targets during a television interview, and the official in question has now jumped before he was pushed.
The current campaign has been nothing short of disastrous for Hugo Lloris. The veteran Frenchman, 36, currently leads all Premier League players in the errors leading to a goal category.
His mark of four is two more than the cluster of six players on two. What makes even worse reading for Lloris is the fact Jordan Pickford is the only other goalkeeper to have registered more than one direct error leading to a goal.
Calls have begun to grow for Lloris to be replaced at season’s end. The likes of Inter Milan’s Andre Onana, Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak and David Raya of Brentford have all been touted as high class successors.
However, a new name has now been confirmed as being on Tottenham’s radar. However, Spurs would very much have preferred to keep that information under wraps.
During a recent interview with Colombian station Win Sports TV, Tottenham scout Jeff Vetere gave away more than his club wanted.
The 57-year-old reportedly ‘infuriated’ Tottenham after leaking the club’s interest in Atletico Nacional stopper, Kevin Mier. The 22-year-old is being tipped for a senior call-up to the Colombian national side and wowed Vetere during a scouting mission.
Vetere’s conduct in revealing the inner workings of Tottenham’s recruitment drive went down like a lead balloon back in north London.
As such, a ‘formal meeting’ was called to discuss whether to axe the scout who had only been appointed by Fabio Paratici in September.
However, before a decision was reached, Vetere opted to resign. The Daily Mail claim Tottenham would have swung the axe had he not walked first.
What Vetere said
Tottenham have reportedly viewed Vetere’s ill-advised interview in full and a section of his quotes are available below.
“I see a goalkeeper [Kevin Mier] who does not lack anything to cross the pond,” said Vetere. “We are looking because it is our task to see who the best youngsters are for international football.
“Taking advantage of my stay in Colombia, I took the opportunity to go there (Nacional) and meet a goalkeeper who is important to me.
“I think he’s going to play for the national side soon. He has things, for me, they are not normal for a boy of his age. I was surprised by his confidence and his handling of the ball.”
Vetere previously worked at Real Madrid and Newcastle, as well as Birmingham City as their sporting director.
However, controversy has always followed Vetere around and his appointment by Paratici was not greeted warmly in north London.
The Mail add Vetere had already ‘rubbed many people up the wrong way’ and was ‘not popular’ among his peers.
