Ex-Danish national team manager Morten Olsen would have rejected Tottenham proposal

In a recent book titled "Total fodbold" released last week by Frank Arnesen, the ex-Danish player who briefly acted as sporting director at Tottenham from May 2004 to June 2005, Arnesen discloses that he aimed to recruit Morten Olsen back then, who was serving as the Danish national team manager, to lead Tottenham.

"Tottenham needed a new head coach in the summer when I arrived at the club, and I pushed for Morten Olsen, but I could not appoint a manager from Denmark or the Netherlands. That was a stipulation. If things went poorly in the initial three or four months, I would face additional scrutiny for selecting a coach from a nation I was linked to, according to Daniel Levy. No need to take that chance", Arnesen states.

Following his playing days, Olsen took charge at Brondby IF, guiding them to the Danish league title and a UEFA Cup semi-final spot. He also prevented FC Koln from dropping out of the German Bundesliga and secured the Double with Ajax. Curiously, he was dismissed from all three teams before the Danish Football Association brought him on as national manager in 2000.

These achievements formed the basis for Frank Arnesens desire to attract his former colleague to Tottenham. Now, Morten Olsen feels pleased by the attention his successes generated.

"The role today means you get noticed if your team performs strongly, if the results are solid. Naturally, its nice to learn of interest from others. However, I would not have taken it if the proposal had materialised. It would have come midway through my Denmark contract," he tells eb.dk, stressing that he would never depart for another team or nation while bound by a deal. 

Morten Olsen continued as Denmark's national manager until 2015, when he opted against renewing his agreement after Denmark fell in the qualifiers for the 2016 European Championships against Sweden.