Roberto De Zerbi walked into Tottenham with seven games left last season and essentially saved them from relegation. That earns a man some serious leverage. And he’s using every bit of it this summer.
Spurs have already brought in Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke. They’re about to smash their transfer record for Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali. There’s chatter about Mateus Fernandes from West Ham and Savinho from Manchester City. The roster is being flipped at a pace that makes your head spin.
But here’s the thing about aggressive rebuilds. There’s always fallout. And Tottenham is now staring at the real possibility of losing two of the most talented young players they’ve signed in years.
Luka Vuskovic is the big one. The teenage defender spent last season on loan at Hamburg and looked like a future star. Some scouts in Europe consider him the best young defensive prospect on the continent. The problem is he’s never played a single competitive minute for Spurs and he already wants out.
Brighton has lodged a £45 million bid. According to reports, Vuskovic is willing to submit a formal transfer request after De Zerbi told him he won’t get regular minutes next season. The kid doesn’t want to waste a year sitting.
Lucas Bergvall is in a similar spot. The Swedish midfielder has struggled for playing time under De Zerbi and has made it clear he’d like to leave. Spurs are apparently open to offers around £45 million for him too.
This feels like a clean break from the recent past. Tottenham brought in both Vuskovic and Bergvall under a youth-first strategy pushed by sporting director Johan Lange. That whole approach is now on shaky ground. Lange’s own future at the club is looking uncertain.
De Zerbi has been blunt about what he wants. At the end of last season he said there were only 11 or 12 players in the squad he wanted to keep. He’s taking a hands-on approach to transfers this summer and he’s prioritizing veteran leadership over potential.
On paper, getting £90 million combined for two guys who haven’t really produced yet sounds like smart business. But there’s a longer game here. If you keep selling your young talent before they break through, what’s the incentive for the next kid to sign with you?
De Zerbi signed a five-year deal to come in on short notice and keep Spurs in the Premier League. That deal gives him serious pull in the room. The front office is scared of repeating the last two nightmare seasons, so they’re letting him call more shots than a typical manager would.
The faith makes sense. He took over a team that looked doomed and kept them up. The fanbase trusts him. But giving one person unchecked control over a club’s long-term direction is risky, especially when that person has a history of moving on after a few seasons.
Tottenham has made smart, Premier League-proven signings so far. Those should help them avoid another relegation scare. But building a sustainable contender? That usually requires balancing short-term fixes with a real pathway for young players. Right now, it looks like De Zerbi is choosing the first option and letting the second one walk out the door.
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