Can the Special One bring back special times?

The announcement that José Mourinho would take over from Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs came less than 12 hours after the Premier League club announced that the Argentinean had been sacked.

The club announced late Tuesday that Pochettino’s five-year era at the club had ended and at 6.29am, on Wednesday they issued a statement announcing that Mourinho had signed a contract as head coach until the end of the 2022/23 season.

The club’s chairperson Daniel Levy described the self-named Special One as one of the most successful managers in football.

“He has a wealth of experience, can inspire teams and is a great tactician. He has won honours at every club he has coached. We believe he will bring energy and belief to the dressing room.”

The Portuguese coach, who won the Premier League three times in two stints with Chelsea, said that he was excited to join Spurs.

“They have a great heritage and such passionate supporters. The quality in both the squad and the academy excites me. Working with these players is what has attracted me.”

Mourinho has an undeniable track record of winning silverware with the clubs he has managed – FC Porto, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

He has won a domestic title in a record four different countries (Portugal, England, Italy and Spain) and is one of only three managers to have won the Uefa Champions League twice with two clubs, FC Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010. He is also a three-time Premier League Champion with Chelsea (2005, 2006, 2015).

Since being dismissed by United in December last year, Mourinho has been waiting in the wings and despite being linked with a number of clubs, none of them came up with an un-refusable offer.

But although the move to Spurs for the 56-year-old is not exactly a step into unchartered waters, it is a step into a situation in which he has not found himself for quite some time.

His last few employers were all clubs with much deeper pockets and arguably with stronger squads. Reportedly he was also told by Spurs officials that he would not be given any money in January to bring new players to the club.

This presumably, prompted Mourinho to sing the current squads’ praises to reporters the same day he was appointed. “It’s a privilege when a manager goes to a club and feels that happiness in relation to the squad that he’s going to have.

“These are not words of the moment. They are not words of me being the Tottenham head coach. These are words that I’ve told and I’ve repeated in the last three, four, five years – even as an opponent.

“I really like this squad and looking to the young players – there is not one manager in the world that doesn’t like to play young players and to help young players to develop. There is not one.”

Mourinho though, does not have the reputation as a coach who puts all his trust into young players and unlike Pochettino is not known as a coach who develops many players.

The Portuguese coach has stressed the importance of striker Harry Kane to his aspirations of bringing success to the club. He has told the club not to sell the highly-valued England captain in summer and has tried to convince Kane to give him a season to turn things around.

Whether Kane though is willing to give Mourinho that time remains to be seen though, as the 26-year-old was considered to be particularly close to Pochettino, who saw the club finish in the top four in four consecutive seasons.

“I’ll be forever thankful to you for helping me achieve my dreams,” Kane wrote to the former manager. “We’ve had some amazing moments in the last five and a half years that I will never forget. You were my manager but my friend as well and I thank you for that relationship. Good luck with your next chapter.”

Spurs visit West Ham on Saturday.

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