Former Roma boss Baldini joins Spurs

Italian Franco Baldini has joined Tottenham Hotspur as technical director, the English Premier League side said today.

“We are delighted to announce that Franco Baldini has joined the club in the role of technical director,” the north London side said on its Twitter account @SpursOfficial.

Baldini, 52, left his role as Roma sporting director earlier this month after disappointing results over the last two seasons in the Italian league.

Roma finished sixth in Serie A last season and failed to qualify for Europe. They also lost out on a Europa League place via the Italian Cup, losing in the final to city rivals Lazio.

Baldini, a former Bolgona, Bari and Pescara midfielder, who was also an assistant manager to Fabio Capello during his time as England coach, was replaced by Walter Sabatini.

Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas is keen to introduce a similar structure at the club to that in place in continental Europe and worked with a technical director during his time at Porto.

Club chairman Daniel Levy was quoted as saying on tottenhamhotspur.com that Baldini was “extremely well respected in the industry, possessing an extensive knowledge of players around the world”.