Roberto De Zerbi's Ambitious Plans at Tottenham

Roberto De Zerbi is not easing himself into life at Tottenham. He is tearing into it.

The Italian has never hidden his obsession with recruitment, but in north London he has found a stage big enough for his ambition – and a budget to match. The numbers are already eye-watering, the squad reshaped at speed, yet De Zerbi insists he is barely past halfway.

“In the transfer market when I want one player I become like a shark, no chance to say no!” he told Football London, a line that lands less as a joke and more as a warning. This is not a coach content to make do.

He estimates Spurs are “60 per cent” through their transfer plan. That remaining 40 per cent? “Now we have another bomba!” he added, a promise that another major signing is in the chamber rather than a throwaway flourish.

Savinho pressure as attack gets another jolt

That “bomba” is widely expected to be Savinho. The Brazilian is understood to be pushing Manchester City to green-light a move to Tottenham, a switch that would drop yet another high-end attacker into a frontline already swollen by the £85m arrival of Mateus Fernandes.

This is not scattergun spending. De Zerbi is building around a very specific idea of what his wide players and full-backs must be. The wingers, he says, must be chameleons.

“A winger can be a very wide winger, one able to come inside, a winger without a full-back, a winger able to play with the full-back,” he explained, outlining roles rather than positions. The detail matters to him. So do the full-backs.

“We have four great full-backs at the moment, maybe the four most important full-backs in the world, because I think Pedro Porro is the best right-back in the world, with [Destiny] Udogie, [Andy] Robertson, and Djed Spence can play right and left.

“Before bringing in a winger, we have to consider the full-back, because we start from the full-back, from the player we already have, no?”

The structure is clear: full-backs first, wingers second. Any new signing must plug into that system, not bend it.

Asked how close the next deal is, De Zerbi allowed only a sliver of optimism. “I hope, but it’s not finished for sure.” The hunt goes on.

Romero given green light for Inter move

While De Zerbi circles the market for fresh blood, one of Tottenham’s most important players is edging towards the exit.

Cristian Romero, the club captain and one of the pillars of this side, wants a return to Serie A. Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio has already confirmed active talks to bring the 2026 World Cup finalist to San Siro, and De Zerbi has chosen not to fight the tide.

“Romero as a player is one of the best centre-backs in the world, but at the end I said I want to respect the will of the players,” he said.

He revealed he had sat down with the squad back in April, when the pressure of the season was at its peak. The message was blunt.

“I said: ‘Help me to stay up, and then I help you to leave’. If you don’t help me to stay up, you stay underwater with me!”

Romero, he insists, kept his side of the bargain.

“But Romero with me was unbelievable. Top. In his behaviour, his respect, he suffered when he did not play the last game. It is not true that he wanted to leave for Argentina to prepare for their World Cup. It’s not true.”

The respect is mutual, but sentiment will not block a move. De Zerbi’s Tottenham will be ruthless, even with its captain.

Harsh lessons, hard rules for the next generation

The same steel runs through his stance on the younger faces drawing interest in this window. Lucas Bergvall and Djed Spence both sit at a crossroads, coveted elsewhere yet intriguing pieces for a coach who relishes moulding raw talent.

De Zerbi would like them to stay. That does not mean they will find an easy ride.

“If they stay, they have to stay following my rules, decisions on the pitch,” he warned. This is not about minutes promised in July. It is about behaviour when the season bites.

“After two games, three games, if one player is not playing and he starts to be sad or not correct with the other players, the coaches, staff, the club, we would make a big, big mistake because we didn’t learn from the past season.”

The scars of last year are still visible at Spurs. Dressing-room discontent, sagging form, a campaign that drifted. De Zerbi is determined that the new era will not repeat those patterns. Talent is welcome; dissent is not.

Chelsea up next as De Zerbi’s Spurs take shape

For now, the theory gives way to the first real glimpses of practice. Tottenham’s new-look squad will step into pre-season action against Chelsea on Saturday, a friendly in name only for a manager driving standards this hard.

The shark has his targets, the “bomba” is still to come, and one of the club’s finest defenders is on his way out. Tottenham are changing at pace. The only question is how far De Zerbi’s revolution will run once the real games begin.