Spurs in talks over second Brentford arrival with Frank targeting Bryan Mbeumo

Daily Mirror

a day ago

Tottenham are closing in on the appointment of Thomas Frank but are set to raid the Dane's former club Brentford for both his backroom staff and some players this summer
Tottenham are in talks to bring in Thomas Frank's assistant Justin Cochrane as part of a mega raid on Brentford. The North London side are closing in on the Dane's appointment as their new head coach.
He will move to Tottenham as part of a £10million deal that will see him replace Ange Postecoglou after his sacking last week. But Spurs aren't quite finished there, with Frank keen to bring colleagues and players in from his former club.
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According to Sky Sports, talks are ongoing regarding Frank's backroom staff which includes assistant coach Cochrane. It was previously thought that Cochrane would be in contention to potentially replace Frank at Brentford but that now appears unlikely.
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Ironically, Cochrane started his coaching career with Tottenham and then moved through the age groups with the FA. Speaking about that move, he said: 'I was ready for that next challenge. It was difficult leaving Tottenham because I enjoyed it, it was very close to home, and it was a good place to work.
"But the opportunity to work for England with some of the best young talents, and with some of the coaches at the time, who were fantastic... I felt it was an opportunity for me to learn again, experience some new things, and it really helped me develop as a coach and a person.'
Cochrane has also held roles with AFC Wimbledon and Manchester United. The former defender arrived at Brentford in June 2022, while he was also confirmed as a member of Thomas Tuchel's England coaching staff earlier this year.
Speaking about his time with Brentford, he added: "I had the ppportunity to work with Thomas, the opportunity to work in the Premier League with a progressive club, and I just wanted to learn again. It's another new challenge. saw it as more learning, working with good people, working in a good environment.
'I spent time working with the AFC Wimbledon first team in League One, but I wanted to test myself in the Premier League. There were some manager offers from League One clubs and some assistant coach roles at other Premier League clubs.
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"But, in the end, it was an easy decision. It wasn't easy to leave Manchester United, but I wanted to go from working with youth players to working with the first team. I did 14 years with youth players at a good level, so to go to Brentford in a first-team environment, I felt like that was the next step for me as a coach.
'Once I had my mind set on Brentford, I'd met Thomas a few times and I'd met Phil, I just felt like it was the right fit; there were some good people to continue learning from, and it's been brilliant so far.'
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Cochrane and Frank could potentially be joined at Tottenham by forward Bryan Mbeumo. The Cameroon international is in the middle of a transfer tug of war between Manchester United and the North London side.
However, Frank isn't expected to have the only say on recruitment when he arrives at his new club. Technical Director Johan Lange - who has helped spearhead the approach for Frank - and former director Fabio Paratici are the two anticipated to be leading Spurs in the summer window.