Jesús Pérez

"Jesús Pérez works as an assistant manager and has spent the majority of his career working alongside former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino. He was assistant manager at Tottenham from May 2014 to November 2019. Pérez gave up his dreams of becoming a professional footballer at the age of 17 and instead went to university to study sports science. After graduating, he worked his way up from non-league football to the top tier of Spanish football, 'La Liga', holding a variety of roles, such as fitness coach, general coach and even academy director. Jesús' career took him to many places, including Gimnàstic de Tarragona, CD Castellón, Real Murcia, Pontevedra CF, Rayo Vallecano and UD Almería. It was at Murcia where, in one season, he worked under both Spanish legend, Joaquín Peiró, and former Liverpool star and Real Madrid boss, John Toshack. After a spell as a fitness coach with the Saudi Arabian national team and then with Saudi side 'Al Ittihad,' he returned to Spain where he was asked by Espanyol sporting director Ramon Planes to join the analysis set-up for the struggling side. It was here that his relationship with Mauricio Pochettino began, initially working as an analyst, but quickly becoming the manager's right-hand man. He is known for his meticulous organisational skills and has even been described by the manager as his 'eyes and ears.' In 2013, he encouraged Pochettino in his move to Southampton where he joined him as assistant manager at the Premier League side. He then followed him to Tottenham Hotspur in 2014 where he was heavily involved in training sessions, working out schedules for all the players while coordinating and communicating with the sports science team and other coaches, and attending briefings with the medical team. "