The Sun Newspaper

JOSE MOURINHO says he is now learning an incredible SEVENTH language — Korean.
The Tottenham boss is already fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, English, French and Italian.

3

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho has revealed he’s learning KoreanCredit: Reuters
And he is attempting to speak the same  tongue as his South Korean striker Son Heung-min.
Mourinho, 57, revealed his linguistic  challenges when speaking at the launch of the club’s new Amazon Prime fly-on-the-ball documentary series.
He said: “Communication is very important when I am with the group, I have to go to the native language, which everybody  understands.
“It’s respectful to the culture of the club to speak the language of the  individuals in it. In the series it was a Portuguese group of coaching staff, although we now also have an English coach in Ledley King.

“And with the players,  I jump into their language — that is why I am learning Korean.”
Mourinho replaced axed  Mauricio Pochettino last November. And the Special One admits his dream is now to achieve something special at the North Londoners.
The former Chelsea chief said: “Since I first arrived in England in 2004 my perception of Tottenham was always the same — a big club, a big fanbase and lots of good players.
“In my second spell in England we have seen the evolution of the club to have the best stadium in the world, the best facilities.

3

Mourinho is learning Korean so he can communicate with Son Heung-MinCredit: Reuters
“I also feel the club have very good players, with a dream to win something.
“Some of them have won things at other clubs, Hugo Lloris got the biggest one  when France won the World Cup. It’s a dream to do something special with the club.
“They almost did it in the Champions League final last year — but they didn’t. So now it’s the challenge to make something special.”
But Mourinho will have to do it on a tight budget, as the club still have a £1billion stadium and £175million Bank of England bridging loan to pay off.

3

Mourinho hopes experienced winners like Hugo Lloris can lead Spurs to gloryCredit: Getty Images – Getty
He said: “People don’t understand the dimension of our job, we are just the face of a structure. Of course, we need to manage not just players — but also the structure you have.
“In modern football,   in terms of the organisation, it’s huge. You are the face of it.
“But without top players, without structure, there are no top managers. We are the face of the project.”
Tottenham finished sixth in the Prem  last term but keeper and captain Lloris — who became a world champion in  2018 — is backing Mourinho to turn the club around.

The stopper said: “He has brought his energy and his knowledge, not only himself but his staff, too. There were a lot of problems to fix and when managers arrive in the middle of the season, it’s a big task.
“He’s experienced, the second time in his career this has happened and he has taken over a club mid-season.
“With the huge clubs he worked for, he’s a big help for the players and club to see the future in a bright way. We are ambitious and now we need to show we can start the season as zero points and go maximum to achieve things.”

Harry Kane enjoys himself on holiday playing American football on golf course More

PAUL BARBER hopes Brighton’s friendly in front of 2500 fans on Saturday will be the first step to full capacity crowds returning to English football.
Albion will become the first club to host supporters in the Covid era when they entertain Chelsea on Saturday as part of a government pilot scheme.

3

Brighton chief Paul Barber is optimistic over the pilot schemeCredit: PA:Press Association

3

Brighton will admit 2,500 fans to Saturday’s friendly with ChelseaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
A range of measures will be in place to maximise safety including socially-distanced seating, random temperature checks and the enforcement of face coverings in concourse areas.
Though singing will NOT be banned as the Seagulls attempt to make the experience as enjoyable as possible.
Brighton chief exec Barber deferred to the government over a possible return to date for full crowds.
But he hoped Saturday’s match would go some way to speeding up that process given the huge financial impact of games being played behind closed doors.

The former FA supremo said: “It’s a big opportunity for us to help demonstrate to the government, general public and fans in particular that we can stage an event safely.
“It’s an important first step to restoring confidence and to giving people something to look forward to on their weekends.
“It is a small event and it is a pilot so the whole point of it is to test various plans, assumptions and operational procedures. 
“Then we can see if they work, how they work and if they don’t work, why they didn’t work and to enable us to make better plans for future events which might be larger.

We see this as a first tentative step to not just help ourselves or clubs in the Premier League but clubs right the way through the football pyramid
Paul Barber

“We’ve got to show that it is possible to stay safe and maintain social distance at this point within the guidelines.
“From an economic point of view, we need to move through the gears fairly quickly in order to ensure the viability of clubs up and down the country.
“We see this as a first tentative step to not just help ourselves or clubs in the Premier League but clubs right the way through the football pyramid.”
The financial need to get full crowds back is laid bare by Barber’s revelation that every game played behind closed doors has cost Albion in excess of “seven figures”.
The Seagulls have significantly scaled up their cleaning operations around the Amex for the game and sanitising stations will be available across the stadium, including on entry to all turnstiles.
Supporters are discouraged from bringing bags to reduce need or time for searches and will be subject to a temperature check on entry. 
Only the named owner of the ticket will be permitted – transfer of tickets is strictly forbidden – with photo ID needing to be shown on entry. All payments will be cashless around the ground.
Face covering must be worn at the stadium, unless fans are in their seat or while eating and drinking. 
Supporters, who will be placed in the East Stand, opposite the players’ bench, and part of the South Stand, must socially distance and ensure they only sit in the seat allocated to them.
Every fan will sit individually, regardless of whether they come as a group, with at least three empty seats between them per row.
Barber is “very confident” of his club’s safety measures.
But when asked if fans would be banned from singing, which had been mooted as a possibility for returning crowds to prevent the spread of the virus, he replied: “No. 
“We’re asking people to be respectful of each other. We’ve all been through a really tough four or five months and we’ve all had to adapt our way of life in many different aspects.
“We want to make sure that people understand that when they get inside the football stadium, that can’t go out the window, it’s got to be maintained.
“Football fans are good, decent, respectful people who the vast majority will do as they are asked every single time. I have every confidence that the 2500 people here on Saturday will comply with the guidelines.
“They will want it to go well not just for the club but for fellow football fans who, just as they are, are anxious to get back and watch their teams again.”

3

The two sides last met at the Amex in front of a packed crowd in JanuaryCredit: Reuters

As part of the pilot programme, fans will also be allowed at a women’s friendly in Lewes, near Brighton, on Sunday, West Ham and Arsenal’s WSL game and non-league finals day.
The Harlequins-Bath Premiership rugby clash at Twickenham Stoop on September 5 will also allow spectators, while some Bob Willis Trophy and T20 Black cricket matches have been included.
Last month the government cancelled a previous pilot scheme after a spike in Covid cases.

Chelsea confirm £50m Ben Chilwell transfer from Leicester City as he becomes Frank Lampard’s third addition to squad More

FORGET All Or Nothing — Amazon should call their sensational new fly-on-the-ball series about  Tottenham: The Jose Mourinho Show.
For that is what the production  really is, an ode to the Special One.

11

Tottenham supremo Daniel Levy is seen welcoming Jose Mourinho to the clubCredit: Amazon

11

Despite his incredible achievements and long reign, Mauricio Pochettino is barely shown beyond about 30 minutes of the series openerCredit: Amazon Prime

11

Jose Mourinho not only takes centre stage, predecessor Mauricio Pochettino soon goes missing in All Or Nothing Credit: Getty Images – Getty

11

Tottenham playes look on as the regime under Jose Mourinho takes shapeCredit: Amazon Prime
The achievements of predecessor Mauricio Pochettino are almost forgotten in this soap opera of last season at Spurs.
It is like the previous 5½ years under Poch at the North London club never happened.
The series will only fan the flames of those conspiracists who claimed Mourinho was only appointed Tottenham boss to ensure this show was a success and ultimately boost Amazon Prime’s subscribers.
That is surely nonsense — although Pochettino’s starring role in this supposedly groundbreaking series lasts barely beyond 30 minutes of the first of nine episodes.

From then on, it is Jose, Jose, Jose.
SunSport understands even Spurs staff, watching the final edit, were shocked by how  little footage of their former manager there is.
And what footage of Poch does appear in this series is hardly flattering.

Even their sacking was all about Levy. Not a single word on the events from Pochettino or any footage of his sacking in what is supposed to be an access-all-areas documentary.

The cameras showed him and Daniel Levy meeting at the new stadium’s first NFL game, where they did not look that friendly, and the awkward small-talk turned to the chairman asking his manager if his cardigan was cashmere!

It could not have been any more embarrassing had Levy asked Poch: “Do you come here often?”
The writing was clearly on the wall and that has been supported by sources  revealing the Argie was told by Levy he was a dead man walking after his bizarre announcement he could quit the club if they won the 2019 Champions League final.
When talking about Pochettino’s appointment in 2014, Levy claims: “I got lucky.”
No mention of the way his previous boss and backroom team turned the club around.

11

Christian Eriksen, right, is one of those players to have since departed, to Inter MilanCredit: Amazon Prime

11

The show goes behind the scenes with the players but little was seen of Jose Mourinho’s predecessor Mauricio PochettinoCredit: Amazon Prime

11

Daniel Levy says sacking Mauricio Pochettino was the most emotional decision he has ever had to makeCredit: Amazon Prime
It was all down to the chairman’s good fortune.
Even their sacking was all about Levy. Not a single word on the events from Pochettino or any footage of his sacking in what is supposed to be an access-all-areas documentary.
Instead it was mainly made to seem it was all Poch’s fault, which to an extent it was — only not as much as the start of this series makes out.
Almost all of the footage of Pochettino portrays him as a weak manager who was to blame for the club allowing the contracts of their top stars like Toby Alderweireld,  Christan Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen to run down.
Indeed, Eriksen and  Vertonghen — who were happy to run down their deals in order to a cop a Bosman  fortune — were portrayed far more sympathetically.
While the episodes made Levy look like he was some Kofi Annan figure in all this — seemingly forgetting the chairman was and is responsible for who gets a new deal at Spurs and who does not.

11

Midfielder Dele Alli attends White Hart Lane for a closed team screening of Amazon Prime Video’s All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur,Credit: BackGrid

11

Star attacker Son Heung-Min arrives at the special premiere, held in-houseCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Asked about what the sacking of Poch was like, he said: “A lot of heartache is the honest answer. It’s never easy when you have to ask somebody to leave the club but, when you’ve been working with them for 5½ years, it’s difficult.
“My heart was telling me don’t do it and my brain was telling me I needed to do it.
“It’s the most emotional decision I’ve ever had to make.”
Nonetheless, the man who never gives interviews was able to open his heart to a firm with a warehouse in Tilbury.
Levy added: “Only time will tell if we made the right  decision.”
When are those viewing  figures announced, again?

11

Manager Jose Mourinho turns up to take the limelight at the premiereCredit: Getty Images – Getty

11

Even Spurs players were said to be surprised at Jose Mourinho dominating the show so muchCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Footage then shows  Mourinho’s agent around a table at Tottenham’s training ground urging Levy to sign the  contract to get the Jose deal done — with a very public pat on the back for all  concerned, crowing: “We did well to keep this quiet, didn’t we.”
Snakes.
So much for Levy’s agonising over  the decision as  this proved he had been working for weeks on  bringing in Mourinho — and Pochettino, according to Harry Kane, never had a Scooby.
When the striker sat down with some of his team-mates in the  canteen the morning after the night before, Vertonghen insisted: “They knew already, didn’t they?”
But Kane revealed: “No, I spoke with him last night.  The chairman came in, said ‘Can we talk? You are being sacked and you need to pack your things because you are leaving tonight.’”
There is then great footage of Mourinho unpacking and moving into his office at  Tottenham’s training ground as a show being broadcast by the huge plasma TV debates whether he still has what it takes to be a manager.

As one pundit insists the Portuguese is beyond his best, the new Spurs chief stands up and screams at the screen: F*** you!
Which is basically what Amazon have done to Poch.
But if you want to gain even a snippet into the guarded world of a Premier League football club then this series is for you.

Harry Kane enjoys himself on holiday playing American football on golf course More

BRENDAN RODGERS is preparing for life without Chelsea-bound Ben Chilwell and has already targeted two potential replacements for the England left-back.
SunSport can reveal Atalanta’s free-scoring left-wing-back Robin Gosens and Fulham’s Play-off final hero Joe Bryan now head Rodgers’ wanted list, with Chilwell expected to complete his £50million move to Stamford Bridge later this week.

3

Leicester are eyeing Fulham star Joe Bryan as a replacement for Ben ChilwellCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The Leicester boss has tracked Gosens for much of the season and clearly knows his stuff as the 26-year-old earned his first call up to the Germany squad yesterday after manager Joachim Low recognised his stunning form in Italy.
Despite playing in one of the most defensive leagues in the world, Gosens has bagged an impressive nine goals and provided eight assists from his left-wing-back position, as well as scoring in the Champions’ League for the Serie A top-scorers Atalanta.
That form has seen his value soar, with Juventus, Inter Milan, Hertha Berlin and even Chelsea linked with the attacking full-back throughout his stellar season.

Gosens was an £800,000 steal when Atalanta signed him from Dutch club Heracles Almelo in 2017 but now the Italians are ready to cash in and have slapped a €30million – £27million price tag – on their attacking ace.

Born on the border with the Netherlands to a Dutch father and German mother, Gosens emerged from Vitesse Arnhem’s Academy but is now in line to make a shock debut for Germany against Spain or Switzerland next month.
By then he could be a Leicester City signing if Rodgers has his way, but the Foxes boss knows he faces stiff competition for the German.

3

Atalanta star Robin Gosens has also caught Brendan Rodgers’ attentionCredit: Getty Images – Getty
That’s why he is also keeping tabs on Fulham’s Play-off hero Joe Bryan, whose Wembley brace broke Brentford’s hearts to earn Scott Parker’s side their place in the Premier League.
Surprisingly, the Cottagers may be preparing to part company with Bryan after signing Antonee Robinson from Wigan Athletic.

There is a feeling Robinson’s defensive qualities could be better suited to Fulham’s needs if they experience another backs-to-the-wall campaign in the Premier League.
Bryan’s attacking instincts were seldom seen during Fulham’s last fateful campaign in the top flight and there is a feeling he would flourish in a side who spend more time on the front foot, such as the Foxes.

The London club signed Bryan from Bristol City for just over £6million but a bid of £15million and the chance to more than double their money might tempt them to sell the defender, who has two years left on his current contract.
Whoever starts the season as Leicester’s first choice left back, they are sure to have competition from understudy Luke Thomas, who was rewarded with a new long-term contract yesterday.
The 19-year-old England youth international broke into the Foxes first team last season, appearing against Sheffield United, Spurs and Manchester United in July and impressed Rodgers enough to earn a wage-rise and a new deal.

3

Chilwell is on the verge of a £50m move to ChelseaCredit: Reuters

Chelsea ‘close to sealing £50m Ben Chilwell transfer’ with Leicester defender undergoing medical checks More