Arnesen bowled over

"I believe such a structure can work in the Premiership. When I was told the plans for Spurs and the way the chairman wanted to run things, I was immediately very interested and from then on talks and an agreement happened very quickly."

When he starts work on 1 July his brief will be to oversee contracts and transfers, drawing on what is said to be a Wenger-esque knowledge of talent across Europe.

Although Arnesen admits he hasn't had time to assess the Spurs squad in depth, he knows the potential of players such as Simon Davies, Anthony Gardner and Ledley King. His mission will be to encourage them to play creative football, although whether a sporting director will achieve more than a director of football in that respect remains to be seen.

"I know the history of this club and they have always tried to play creative football. They have had exciting players through the years. People like Jimmy Greaves, Gary Lineker and Jurgen Klinsmann to name just a few. The fact they like to play creative football was one of the main reasons I accepted the position, but there were other factors too. The second, and probably the most important from my point of view, was the job itself."

Arnesen's first and perhaps most important task will be to help Spurs appoint the man who will help forge the revolution. "I will be directly involved in that of course," he said. "Everyone would like the new coach installed sooner rather than later, but this will be our appointment, not just mine. But there is no rush, what is important is that the coach is the right one for the club. It is not right to talk about certain candidates as confidentiality must be respected.

"But there is much potential at Spurs, especially with the young players at the club, and in that respect David Pleat has done a very good job in getting them together. I have not had anything to do with the players that Spurs have signed so far.

"I have always liked the sportsmanship of the game in England and the Premier League has such a high standard and reputation."

Although excited by the challenge, Arnesen is careful to emphasise he still has a job to finish at PSV in the interim.

He added: "I decided to resign from the club two months ago and my leaving date for PSV is set at 1 July. I had offers to go to other clubs but when Tottenham came in for me, I was very interested. But I still have a job at PSV until then and I want to do that as professionally as possible."

There is no doubting Arnesen's scouting prowess. He has unearthed some of the game's top players in his time at PSV. Among the names listed on his CV are Boudewijn Zenden (on loan at Middlesbrough from Chelsea), Jaap Stam (AC Milan), Arjen Robben (who will join Chelsea from PSV this summer), Phillip Cocu (Barcelona) and Eidur Gudjohnsen (Chelsea). He was also credited by Robson with the discovery and signing of Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United).

He is uncomfortable with such accolades. When he was congratulated on his purchase of Ronaldo for PSV in 1994, the Dane replied: "Thanks, but a talent like that would have been discovered by my grandmother."

Hopefully, she won't be needed at White Hart Lane.