Tottenham clear final Thomas Frank hurdle as 'agreement reached' for highly-rated assistant

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly cleared the final hurdle in negotiations to bring Brentford manager Thomas Frank to the club, having agreed a deal for his assistant to join too.

The 51-year-old Dane was immediately identified as Spurs' number one replacement for Ange Postecoglou, who was fired last week in the wake of leading Tottenham to their first trophy in 17 years.

Winning the Europa League and guiding the club back into the Champions League was not enough to save Postecoglou from the chop, as he oversaw the worst-ever Premier League season in Tottenham's history.

Spurs moved quickly to seal a deal for Frank, who has already given the green light to a move, while Tottenham have also agreed to pay around £10m in compensation to Brentford.

Now, The Athletic claims that Frank's right-hand man Justin Cochrane will also head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and their appointments will be confirmed imminently.

The report adds that Brentford were determined to keep hold of Cochrane, who was also attracting interest from other clubs, but the 43-year-old is now Tottenham-bound.

Who is Spurs' new assistant manager Justin Cochrane?

Cochrane has been working closely with Frank at Brentford since the summer of 2022, prior to which he held various coaching and administrative positions both domestically and at international level.

The 43-year-old previously spent nine years as a Tottenham academy coach from 2009 to 2018, after which he served as manager for England's Under-15 and Under-16 teams.

A brief stint as AFC Wimbledon assistant followed for Cochrane in 2020, before he took charge of England's Under-17s and also served as director of development for Manchester United.

Cochrane also works part-time in the England ranks under Thomas Tuchel, and the report adds that he will continue in that role alongside his duties at Tottenham.

The Englishman will act as a replacement for Ryan Mason in North London, after the erstwhile Tottenham assistant accepted an offer to become West Bromwich Albion head coach.

Cochrane is supposedly seen as one of the most highly-rated young coaches in English football, and Spurs' appointment of Frank should now go through without a hitch, as talks over hiring his assistant were the main issue holding the deal up.

Frank to bring three Brentford staff members to Tottenham

In addition to Cochrane, the outlet has revealed that Frank will also reunite with two other members of his backroom team in North London.

Fitness coach Chris Haslam will end a lengthy association with Brentford by moving to Spurs; he first joined the Bees in 2010, working as a sports scientist, conditioning coach and most recently head of athletic performance.

Joe Newton - a 29-year-old match analyst - will also make the move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, thus ending a six-year stay at Brentford.

Written by
Ben Knapton