Fabio Paratici’s contacts and charisma will still appeal to Milan, Spurs and others

Twenty-seven months down, just under three months to go.

The clock on Fabio Paratici’s 30-month ban from football activity is slowly ticking towards zero. In July, he will be free to emerge from the shadows and step back into the light.

While Paratici’s ban does not stop him from working in the football industry, owing to a successful appeal of the extent of the ban two years ago, he has been consigned to work as a consultant and adviser since he was forced to resign from his post at Tottenham Hotspur in April 2023.

Only on June 30, when the ban finally expires, will he be able to return to the type of work through which he made his name: as a high-profile public-facing club executive. Like the work he did at Juventus, where from 2010 to 2021 he oversaw one of the most successful eras in their history, as the Turin club won nine Serie A titles in a row and reached the final of the Champions League twice.

Or the work at Tottenham, where Paratici was handed the keys to the club as managing director of football in June 2021. In less than two years officially working for Tottenham, Paratici started to bring in a new generation of players, many of them recruited for great prices. He formed a good working relationship with Antonio Conte, and Spurs’ fourth-placed finish in 2021-22 felt like the start of a thrilling new era.

In reality, both Paratici and Conte had left within one year. And Spurs have never finished that high again since. Spurs fans could be forgiven for already getting nostalgic about it.

Of course, we have to stare directly at the fact that he was banned for the plusvalenza scandal from his time at Juventus, related to the inflation of transfer fees for accounting purposes. Some will see this as a stain on his reputation, others will shrug their shoulders and say that football has never been an especially moral place, and that worse things are happening out there than accounting indiscretions. Some will say that once he has served his time, it is only right that he should be able to return to work.

This is what clubs will be weighing up if they consider a move for Paratici, 52, this summer. You can easily sketch out the upside to bringing him back into official employment. Here is a job candidate who comes with years of winning experience, a good track record in Italy and England, and a brimming contacts book. Beyond that, he has a natural charisma and name-recognition that some clubs will want to be associated with.

On the other hand, the baggage is unavoidable, as are the questions that will come with that. Some clubs now prefer to do their transfer business in a more discreet, analytical and thorough fashion, rather than leaning on contacts and gut feel for a player. Perhaps Paratici is the last great sporting director of the previous era, rather than at the cutting edge of the next one.

But these questions, or questions like them, will also be occupying minds at Milan right now. The Serie A side are currently enduring their worst season for 10 years, stuck in mid-table. Paulo Fonseca, appointed last summer, only lasted 17 league games before being replaced by Sergio Conceicao. They feel like a club in need of some boardroom football experience, even with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in his own senior role at the club.

For a club trying to re-establish winning credibility, winning charisma after a difficult few years, Paratici could be perfect. He knows what it takes to win in Serie A. He has contacts to help bring in better players. And he has that energy that can lift everyone in the building.

When Tottenham recruited him in 2021, it was in the hope that he could bring ‘Juventus standards’ to Spurs. And, in a sense, he did, along with a former Juventus manager in Conte and former Juventus players in Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski. It did not end with Spurs getting Juventus results for more than a few months, but it may still have been an idea worth pursuing.

Kulusevski was among the players Spurs signed on Paratici’s watch (Rob Newell/Getty Images)

So the attraction to Milan is obvious. The question is whether Paratici would want to give up his current life to return to permanent Serie A work. Yes, he would get a job title out of it and might find that working for a new big club could lessen the association between him and the plusvalenza scandal. But Italy is a difficult place to work: more public than England, more political. Paratici has divided his time between Turin and London in recent years. He might find that he still wants to keep working in his adopted home.

Because Paratici has continued to be a trusted advisor to Levy in the last two years since his resignation. He is still often seen at Tottenham games, celebrating goals and posing for selfies with fans. None of which he is prohibited from given the reduced scope of his ban. And even though technical director Johan Lange has been in charge of recruitment since he arrived in late 2023, Paratici is still a hugely trusted voice.

This season’s team is still full of players Paratici either signed as managing director of football (Kulusevski, Cristian Romero, Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, Destiny Udogie, Pedro Porro), or whom he advised on signing post-resignation (James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario, Radu Dragusin). Put it all together — the two years as an executive and another two as a consultant — and Paratici has been one of the most influential off-field figures in Spurs’ recent history. Far more so than many of their recent managers.

This is still a team and a club with a marked Paratici imprint on it. There are people at Spurs who miss his winning mentality behind the scenes, his charisma and his political skill. Levy still highly values his advice and respects the fact he has signed some fantastic players for Spurs without breaking the bank. As it stands, if Spurs do indeed make a managerial change this summer and replace Postecoglou, then it is inconceivable that Levy would do so without consulting Paratici on what to do next.

But if this is another transitional summer for Spurs, there is one dramatic card that Levy could yet play: the full Paratici restoration. If they wanted a high-profile, eye-catching move, then it might even make sense.

Right now, the word from the club is that nothing is happening in that regard. Tottenham of course have Lange and chief football officer Scott Munn in position. And with Paratici still banned until July, there is certainly no rush to do anything. Especially when Paratici is an influential figure already.

But from this summer, Paratici will be free to re-enter the job market again. And it will not just be Tottenham and Milan who take note.

(Top photo: Jack Thomas/Getty Images)