I’m stepping away from Euro 2020 this week, primarily because by the time you read this the quarterfinals will be done and dusted, the final four will be in place and Roberto Mancini and Gareth Southgate will either be heroes or zeroes.

Luckily, however, the Premier League has thrown up a few interesting stories in the last few days so there is still plenty for us to get our teeth stuck into.

Let’s kick-off with Tottenham Hotspur who finally appointed a manager after a process that dragged on longer than Brexit. Yes, after asking all eligible managers over the age of 30 if they would like to take charge of the team, one finally decided he didn’t have anything better to do – Nuno Espírito Santo.

To be honest, I find it a rather underwhelming appointment when you consider the people Spurs flirted with but failed to tie down: Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, Antonio Conte, Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag.

Nothing against Nuno, who did a decent and consistent job with Wolverhampton Wanderers. But is he the sort of manager who is going to attract big names to the club or even persuade those already there to stay? I have my doubts.

Even the fact that he was only given a two-year deal suggests to me that Spurs are not overly confident in the appointment. Three years is the norm, whereas two suggests a ‘let’s see how the first few months go and take it from there’ approach.

I’m pretty sure Spurs chairman Daniel Levy had someone more glamourous in mind to fill the hotseat when he fired José Mourinho and embarked on a managerial hunt that took an embarrassing 72 days.

But Nuno it is.

To be fair, the Spurs fans I have spoken too, while seeing it as slightly uninspired, are prepared to give the Portuguese coach a chance.

And a chance is all I see him being given as well. He almost feels like a stop-gap appointment to fill in the time until the manager they really want becomes available.

I could be wrong – often am – and this could be the start of something special. Nuno is not a bad manager in the slightest. However, it just has a slight tinge of desperation to it, given he was, by no stretch of the imagination, first choice.

Meanwhile, in one of the most controversial managerial appointments in recent years, former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has taken charge at Everton. (On a three-year deal, by the way. Just saying.)

That makes the 61-year-old Spaniard only the second man in history to manage both Liverpool clubs. And the last one was a chap called William Edward Barclay in the 1890s.

Rafa’s appointment is made all the more controversial by the fact that, while manager at Anfield, he described Everton as a ‘small club’. He has since tried to wind back on the comments, saying they were taken out of context, but that won’t cut much ice with the Everton faithful.

After asking all eligible managers over the age of 30, one finally decided he didn’t have anything better to do

In fact, while the club was in negotiations with Benitez, banners were hung outside Goodison Park and elsewhere protesting against the move. One of the banners, which read “We Know Where You Live – Don’t Sign”, even prompted a police investigation due to its threatening nature. (Although, in a true reflection of the severely limited mental capacity of the people who hung it up, it was placed outside the wrong house).

However, all this does show the depth of unease among Evertonians that a man with so much Liverpool history – including Champions League and FA Cup wins – has now crossed over to the other side.

There is no doubting Benitez’s quality. He has been a very good manager for a very long time at a variety of top clubs. And for him I am sure his allegiances only lie with the club he currently runs.

But there is no doubt that his Merseyside history counts against him, which is why, very much like Nuno at Spurs, I suspect he is going to need a very good start to his new job if he wants to hold on to it.

In fact, in Rafa’s case, a flying start is even more imperative, because the Everton fans will be looking for any reason to turn against him, and a few questionable results will be just the excuse they need to ramp up the pressure.

Two managers in new jobs, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, for various reasons, neither of them sees out the entire season…

Did United really need Sancho?

After a saga that has stretched on for well over a year – enough time for Spurs to find five managers at their standard search rate – Manchester United have finally filled the Jadon Sancho-shaped hole in their squad.

The young England forward is moving from Borussia Dortmund in return for a few large suitcases full of used bank notes – more than £70 million bank notes, in fact. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has finally got his man.

My question is, was that the best use of United’s money?

If there is one area in which they are not exactly short, it is on the right side of their attack where – with varying degrees of effectiveness – Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard are all very capable of playing.

Sancho is arguably better than all of these as his incredible statistics at Dortmund show – 37 goals and 41 assists since the beginning of the 2018/19 season. Quite phenomenal for a 21-year-old player. But Ole’s United team are crying out for a good, solid, top-level defender to partner Harry Maguire. If they were going to spend big this summer, I would have expected it to be in that area.

Having said that, there is always the possibility that the Glazers – rocked by the Super League supporter backlash – have decided to splash the cash in a bid to buy a certain level of forgiveness, and more big moves are on the cards. Doubtful, but possible.

What does disturb me about this transfer is what it means for Greenwood, a young player similar to Sancho, who was just starting to find his feet at the top level of the game.

Will he become a bit part player? Or will he become a central striker? The latter would be sensible, the former a waste of talent, which would inevitably see him follow Sancho’s path and move elsewhere for proper game time.

When all is said and done, it will be good to have Sancho in England just so we get to see him playing a bit more often.

And who knows, if he isn’t playing in some strange foreign land, then maybe Southgate will realise he is actually a pretty good player…

e-mail: james@quizando.com
twitter: @maltablade