Incoming Tottenham Hotspur head coach Paulo Fonseca has previously described Jose Mourinho as a "great coach" as he closes in on replacing his fellow countryman at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Since showing Mourinho the door on April 19, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been hunting high and low to find the former Manchester United boss' successor, attempting to lure both Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte to north London.
However, talks with Conte collapsed at the 11th hour, meaning Levy was forced to go back to the drawing board in his attempt to find a new head coach to replace Mourinho.
Now, though, it seems as though former Shakhtar Donetsk and Roma boss Fonseca could be the man to succeed his fellow countryman, with new incoming director of football Fabio Paratici the driving force behind the plan.
Should negotiations between the two parties progress well and a deal is struck, Fonseca would be replacing Mourinho in the same way Mourinho replaced him at Roma in a bizarre turn of events.
Mourinho was confirmed as Roma's new boss ahead of next season before Fonseca and Roma had completed the 2020/21 campaign, meaning the former Shakhtar boss knew he would be replacing him.
That meant that Fonseca was forced to deliver his verdict on Mourinho, and it was of a positive nature.
"For me, professionalism is something I believe is very important," Fonseca said last month. "I am OK, I am focused on things here just like I was the very first day I got here.
"I am motivated. I want to do the best I can for Roma for as long as I am still here.
"Mourinho is a great coach, everyone knows that, and I am sure he will do a great job here."
Should Fonseca be successfully appointed as Tottenham's new boss, he would become Spurs' third Portuguese manager in history, following in the footsteps of Andre Villas-Boas and Mourinho.
