Roberto De Zerbi stood in front of the cameras at Tottenham’s training ground and said something that might make the rest of the Premier League nervous. The summer spending spree is not over.
Tottenham has already dropped around $300 million on new players. That’s after finishing 17th in back-to-back Premier League seasons and barely avoiding relegation on the final day of last season. The club is trying to erase two years of misery in one window.
The biggest move so far: Sandro Tonali from Newcastle for a club-record fee that could hit $125 million. Before that, they paid $106 million for Mateus Fernandes from relegated West Ham. Jan Paul van Hecke cost $65 million from Brighton. Free agents Martin Dubravka, Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi also walked through the door.
De Zerbi’s vision goes beyond dollar signs
De Zerbi took over late last season after Igor Tudor left. He kept the team up, but barely. Now he’s building something from scratch.
“I feel very good because we are working well,” De Zerbi told SpursPlay. “I think we are building a very good team, with some very important new players, and we are starting the project in another part of the history of the club.”
He spent time understanding the club before officially taking over in April. He had a clear picture of what the owner wanted before the first game against Everton. Now he’s in the middle of it.
“We are excited with the idea to build a very strong team,” De Zerbi said. “Now we have to finish as it is not finished yet, our transfer market, in and out. But at the moment I am very happy, very proud and very positive.”
Then he said something that sounded like a mission statement.
“To build a soul, to build a new team with the qualities for sure but with soul, with passion, with all the values we have. Football now is not just on the pitch, it’s not just with the ball, it is before in the private life, it is how many hours during the day you think you are doing your job and they have to be happy and proud to stay in Tottenham.”
Some young talent is leaving too
It’s not all arrivals. Will Lankshear joined Middlesbrough in a deal worth up to $25 million, following Luka Vuskovic out the door. Both were highly rated young players. The club is willing to move on from prospects to fund the rebuild.
First test comes Wednesday night
Tottenham opens preseason against MK Dons at the Enfield training ground. It’s a low-key start, but De Zerbi sees it as the beginning of something bigger.
“I think Tottenham deserve to compete for the top of the Premier League,” he said. “I know very well the Premier League is very tough, but if you have a good motivation inside of the players, a good organisation on the pitch and outside of the pitch, I think you work well and at the end you reach your target.”
Given how much money has already been spent, anything less than a top-half finish this season will look like a failure. De Zerbi seems aware of that. The pressure is on, but he’s leaning into it.
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