Former Brentford manager Thomas Frank steps into his role at Tottenham Hotspur with a weight of expectations after both his positive exploits with a Premier League club holding fewer resources and the dismissal of the beloved, Europa League-winning manager Ange Postecoglou.
So far, Tottenham fans have taken warmly to Frank despite the controversial circumstances of the Postecoglou firing, and he's had a strong early start to his run. He's pushing for all the right targets - such as Brentford right winger Bryan Mbeumo and Crytsal Palace attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze - and he's already retained the exciting Mathys Tel on the left wing.
One of his biggest challenges, though, is navigating the uncertainty around two of Tottenham's most important and beloved players in Son Heung-min and Cristian Romero. In the case of the former, the player's own desires will govern his future, which is, in itself, a win for Frank and Tottenham in fan perception, as Spurs fans should be happy that the club reportedly won't try to push the captain and club legend out for a few extra bucks from Saudi Arabia or Turkey.
But the Romero case is more important. Romero was close to Postecoglou, and after it seemed like Spurs had turned the corner on the Romero to Atletico Madrid transfer rumors, the abrupt dismissal of Big Ange seemed to threaten their chances at keeping the Europa League Player of the Tournament.
Tottenham negated the sting of losing Ange Postecoglou
Right now, Tottenham fans can breathe a sigh of relief, because it looks like the vice captain has been convinced to stay. According to a report from top Argentinian outlet TyC Sports, there is a different tune being sung around Romero at Tottenham despite Diego Simeone's public overtures to the 27-year-old Argentinian star center back.
Romero reportedly has a number of factors at Tottenham that are pointing in the direction of him staying, including the fact that he just helped Spurs reach the Champions League for next season by winning the Europa League.
But perhaps the biggest and most intriguing was the appointment of Frank, which is seen as a breath of fresh air around the club and a new project that could convince Romero to stay for one or more seasons at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
What makes this so interesting from a Spurs perspective is the fact that one of the whole points regarding the rumors of Romero leaving was the firing of Postecoglou. So if Frank is such a big positive, his energy and optimism negate the sting of losing Big Ange. With neither Atletico nor any other club coming close to Tottenham's demands of 70 million pounds for Romero, it looks like Frank has fulfilled the final task in convincing Romero to stay.