Johan Lange was head coach of Lyngby in the Danish second tier when his old friend Stale Solbakken called to tell him he was in the wrong job.
They had worked closely before. At FC Copenhagen during Solbakken’s first spell in charge, Lange coached the young professionals in transition from the academy to the first team.
Later, they were together as manager and assistant at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship and sacked after six months.
Back in Denmark, in his second spell as Copenhagen boss towards the end of 2013, Solbakken was juggling two roles as head coach and sporting director when he called Lange with a career proposal.
‘He could have been a decent coach,’ Solbakken told Mail Sport. ‘But I said to him: “Johan, you will never be a great coach, you will be a decent coach not a great coach, so I think you should go into being a sporting director”.’
The challenge was accepted and Lange set out on a new course, joining Copenhagen where he became technical director and excelled in the role for six years, earning a reputation as a talent spotter with a forensic mind before moves to Aston Villa and Tottenham.
Johan Lange (left) in his time Stale Solbakken’s assistant at Wolverhampton Wanderers
He had a brief spell as Copenhagen assistant coach too, but his true calling was yet to come
Lange changed tack and became a sporting director, joining Aston Villa in 2020
In a summer of drastic change at Spurs, the 45-year-old Dane has risen to prominence, empowered by chairman Daniel Levy to lead the search for his next head coach.
It was Lange analysed more than 30 potential candidates before presenting a shortlist, from which Levy and his new chief executive Vinai Venkatesham selected Thomas Frank as the replacement for Ange Postecoglou.
Lange and Frank go back a long way. They shared an office during the early part of their careers in the modest headquarters of Lyngby, where they were integral to an enclave of ambitious young coaches who revived the two-time Danish champions after bankruptcy in 2001 by nourishing its youth system.
They all went on to become influential in Danish football. Besides Frank and Lange there were Kasper Hjulmand, who led rising force Nordsjaelland to a first title and took charge of Denmark for four years, and Niels Frederiksen, who coached Denmark’s Under 21s and Brondby.
All are rooted in Lyngby, in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen where Frank was spotted strolling in the streets near the stadium this summer, soon after his move from Brentford to be reunited with Lange in more lavish surroundings at Hotspur Way.
After the demise of the Australians, head coach Postecoglou and chief football officer Scott Munn, they have planted the flag for Tottenham’s Danish era.
Those who know Lange describe him as low on ego with a dark humour. He is, they say, hard-working and professional, often secretive and most comfortable operating in the shadows. Not everyone who has crossed his path since his move to English football has been charmed by his unassuming style though. There are those who consider him cold, featureless and distant to the point of rudeness.
While purging Villa and Spurs of their most seasoned scouts with decades of service in the game, some of whom he left with the distinct impression he cared little for their opinions and what or who they might know. Some figured he was afraid of their experience, or the conflict it might spark.
Thomas Frank was among Lange’s recommendations to Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and new chief executive Vinai Venkatesham
Also part of the Lyngby set is Kasper Hjulmand (left), who led Denmark to the Euro 2020 semi-finals and drew 1-1 with England at Euro 2024
Another of their number is Niels Frederiksen, who managed Denmark’s Under 21s and Brondby
Lange likes to point out that he operates a network of scouts, but it is clear he trusts data and the analysts who run it to his own specifications more than the traditional football lifers whose eyes have seen a thousand games and forged strong views on what makes a player and what does not.
Frederik Leth was a data wizard dubbed ‘the Brain’ at Copenhagen, and has followed Lange to Villa and Spurs, where he has led the creation of the new Football Insights department designed to identify and recruit a new generation of talent before it is too expensive to afford.
Rob Mackenzie, who also moved with Lange from Villa leads the other side of Tottenham’s data operation, focused on team performance and the scouting and analysis of opponents.
Leth is Lange’s numbers man and at Copenhagen, they combined with boss Solbakken to sign a procession of young players from obscure markets at low prices, develop and sell for huge profit to wealthier leagues.
‘He is very thorough,’ said Solbakken. ‘Copenhagen, he had the scouting team working very hard and they gave us the names. I’d send Johan to watch the player live and we’d speak and maybe I’d go and watch the player with him before we made any final decision.
‘He is hard working with a good eye for football, and the best thing is you can trust him 100 per cent in all cases. I never trusted anyone more in football than I trusted him.
‘He doesn’t splash money without being very accurate. You know he will have done everything he can in his mind to make sure he has the right decision, but the transfer market is difficult no matter.’
Denis Vavro came from Zilina in Slovakia and was sold two years later to Lazio. Benjamin Verbic from Celje in Slovenia sold to Dynamo Kyiv. Robin Olsen from PAOK in Greece sold to Roma and now at Villa. Ludwig Augustinsson from Gothenburg sold to Werder Bremen and also briefly on loan at Villa.
Denis Vavro (left) was spied by Lange and quickly went from the Slovakian top flight to Lazio
Ludwig Augustinsson was another, and briefly spent time on loan at Aston Villa
Lange spent a week living with the family of Paraguayan forward Federico Santander (right)
Federico Santander was a forward identified playing for Guarani in Paraguay, but Copenhagen had been scarred by a bad experience signing Franco Mussis from Argentina, so Solbakken sent Lange and his chief scout to Paraguay to live with Santander’s family for a week.
They wanted to be certain his personality would handle the relocation and thrive in Denmark. They agreed he would fit in, completed the transfer and Santander scored 48 goals in three seasons at Copenhagen before a £5million move to Bologna.
‘It’s a big misunderstanding that he’s so focused on data,’ says Solbakken, now manager of his native Norway. ‘Johan uses data as a factor to make sure he has the right man but if the data doesn’t match his eyes, he will trust his eyes more than the data.’
Lange’s first big contribution at Spurs was a mission to convince Swedish teen Lucas Bergvall to reject Barcelona and move to north London.
This too was familiar territory albeit with a different budget. During those six years at Copenhagen, he was largely responsible for rebuilding the academy, stocking it with some of Scandinavia’s finest teenage talent.
Hakon Arnar Haraldsson came in from IA in Iceland at 16 and joined Lille in a deal worth up to £15m four years later.
It’s a different proposition in north London, of course – a Champions League squad is needed, after the club’s worst league season in 50 years was saved by its first trophy in 17. But in the age of PSR a pipeline of talent that can be sold on for huge profit, if needed, is never a bad thing.
Spurs have turned their hand to the youth movement in recent years, completing the signings of Bergvall (now 19 the recipient of an improved five-year contract), Archie Gray (19), Wilson Odobert (20), Antonin Kinsky (22), Yang Min-hyeok (19), Mason Melia (17) last season.
Tottenham need a Champions League-level squad this season despite having finished 17th in the Premier League last year
One of Lange’s first jobs as Spurs was to convince Lucas Bergvall that he should join them instead of Barcelona
Roony Bardghji scored a stunning late winner against Manchester United in November 2023 and is now on his way to Barcelona
One of Lange’s final tips before leaving Denmark for Aston Villa was to sign 14-year-old winger Roony Bardghji from Malmo. Bardghji made his first team debut at 16 years and six days, the youngest to ever represent Copenhagen.
He lit up English headlines with a stunning late goal against Manchester United last season, which won a crazy Champions League group game 4-3. A serious knee injury delayed his progress, but the Kuwait-born Sweden Under 21s international returned to action in March and at 19 is now on his way to Barcelona.
Lange’s three years at Villa Park blended hits like Jhon Duran and Boubacar Kamara with misses like Morgan Sanson and Emi Buendia. To credit him for Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa is incorrect.
Both were pursued at the behest of head coach Dean Smith, who coached them at Brentford. Just as the Emi Martinez transfer from Arsenal was in motion before Lange arrived.
Recruitment however is invariably a team game despite a craving to pin it all upon one person and hail them a genius or the root of all evil.
It works best in an environment of trust, understanding and alignment, perhaps easier to achieve on a small scale, without pressure of expectation and flurry of outside forces regularly found at Premier League clubs.
Jhon Duran was one of Lange’s best finds at Aston Villa, signing for £18m from Chicago Fire and being sold to Saudi Arabia for quadruple that amount just two years later
But Lange was shunted aside by Villa so that they could pair together Unai Emery and Monchi
Villa shunted Lange aside so Monchi could come in and reinforce Unai Emery’s Spanish connection, in the hope they might conjure the successes they enjoyed together at Sevilla.
Spurs offered him an escape in October 2023, bringing him in to replace Fabio Paratici who had stepped down after FIFA extended a ban imposed in Italy for his part in a financial scandal.
Two years on, and Tottenham’s Danish axis of power might be expected to offer a touch of Scandinavian clarity and cohesion.
But Paratici’s ban is set to end this month, and he remains closely connected to the club in a consultancy role, so there are no guarantees on that.
