Tottenham Hotspur has lost its head coach midseason. Coach Matt Wells (37) is heading to Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States, following Son Heung-min (33), who joined LAFC last summer.
The Athletic reported on the 13th (Korea time) that Colorado Rapids are expected to appoint Tottenham's coach Wells as their next manager. The news was delivered by Tom Bogert, a prominent MLS reporter.
Colorado finished 11th out of 15 teams in the MLS Western Conference last season. They had the same points as ninth-place Real Salt Lake, which grabbed the final playoff spot, but missed out by one fewer win and left with regret. Now Colorado is preparing a new era with Wells as manager.
The Athletic explained, Wells will be one of the youngest managers in MLS in the 2026 season. The current youngest manager is Eric Ramsay (34) of Minnesota United. After narrowly missing the 2025 playoffs under former manager Chris Armas, Colorado interviewed several domestic and international managerial candidates and ultimately chose Wells, who fit the club's offseason recruitment plans.
Wells has worked as a coach at Tottenham since the 2023-24 season. He forged ties with Tottenham during Ange Postecoglou's tenure and currently serves as first-team coach under Thomas Frank.
Wells, who played as a midfielder during his playing career, came through the Tottenham youth system. After retiring he began his coaching career with Tottenham's youth teams. He later joined the coaching staff of Scott Parker, also a Tottenham alumnus, gaining first-team coaching experience at Fulham, Bournemouth and Club Brugge.
Now Wells is taking on his first managerial challenge by joining Colorado. Tottenham declined to comment to The Athletic, but an official announcement appears to be the only thing remaining. Wells is already involved in Colorado's player recruitment plans.
The away match at Nottingham Forest on the 14th is expected to be Wells' farewell game at Tottenham. U.S. network ESPN reported that according to multiple sources, Colorado is prepared to appoint Tottenham coach Wells as their next manager and that he will arrive in Colorado next week after the Nottingham match.
Wells' departure is likely to bring significant change to Tottenham as well. The Athletic noted that if Wells leaves Tottenham's coaching staff, it would be a major event, marking the first substantive change to the coaching staff assembled when Frank took charge six months ago.
The outlet added that Wells joined as one of Frank's four senior coaches. He was the only member of the coaching staff from Postecoglou's tenure to remain into Frank's regime, which shows how highly the club values him among Tottenham's league staff.
Wells was reportedly responsible for much of the training. The Athletic said Postecoglou preferred not to intervene directly in training and instead entrusted the coaching staff with sessions, so Wells took on significant responsibility for coaching the players. Wells is highly regarded in football; praise for his analytical insight and creative training methods is relentless.
Tottenham fan community Cartridge Free Captain said that Wells, a Tottenham academy product, retired without making a professional debut because of successive injuries but is now considered one of England's best young senior coaches. They added that this will be a very good opportunity for Wells. Over time he might have gotten the chance to lead a second- or third-division English team, but he ended up taking charge of Colorado, which is a fairly decent post.
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