Roberto De Zerbi's Clear Stance on Lucas Bergvall and Tottenham's Rebuild

Roberto De Zerbi has drawn one clear line in a summer of upheaval at Tottenham: Lucas Bergvall is going nowhere. Pape Matar Sarr? That one is far less certain.

“Lucas Bergvall, 100 per cent [he is staying],” the Italian said, leaving no room for doubt.

The 20-year-old had pushed for a new challenge earlier in the summer, telling the club before heading to the World Cup that he wanted to grow into a true number eight. Newcastle and Nottingham Forest tested Tottenham’s resolve with bids. Spurs turned them away and De Zerbi rewarded the midfielder with starts and heavy minutes in pre-season.

Now, the head coach is convinced Bergvall’s mind has shifted.

“We spoke a lot in pre season. He’s a top player, a top potential player. I like that he stays but I think now he wants to stay and we have no problem.”

The same clarity doesn’t extend to Sarr. The 23-year-old returned late from Senegal, only joining up in the first week of August, and suddenly finds himself in a crowded midfield after the £185million double arrival of Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

“He’s a good player. I don’t know if he stays or not, we have to analyse the situation, but he is another very very important player,” De Zerbi admitted.

The message was blunt: nobody is guaranteed a place in this new Tottenham.

Spending big, talking straight

The scale of the rebuild is staggering. With Manchester City forwards Savinho and Omar Marmoush still expected to come through the door, Tottenham’s summer outlay could hit £377million. For a club that flirted with relegation last season, it is a statement backed by hard cash.

The Lewis family had promised “actions not words” after that near-disaster. De Zerbi says they have delivered.

“In my experience, they kept their word, they kept what they said before I came in March,” he said. “But what we are doing is not for the coach. It’s for the club, for the fans, for the history of the club, for the pride of the club, and for the level of the club.

“I think this moment is crucial for this club, because after two seasons like we had, we have to change the mood, completely change it, give it a boost.”

He wants this window to be a reset, not a cycle.

“When we have finished in this transfer market, for a long time we don't need many things and we can work all together in the right condition, in the right direction, to build step by step something special, or to go to compete for the top of the table.

“Not maybe now, or maybe yes, I don't know, but we have the squad to play in every stadium in the right way. Face to face, we know we have to improve. We have to become a team, but I think we also have all the qualities to do that.”

De Zerbi sees “big potential” in this group, but he is holding back on definitive verdicts until the window shuts.

“At the end of the transfer market, I will be more accurate in my opinion. I have to keep the balance because sometimes the transfer market – with Tonali and JP Van Henke – we bring in a lot.”

Noise from the outside, fuel on the inside

Rival fans and pundits have been quick to complain about Tottenham’s spending spree. Spurs, though, point to booming stadium revenues and a projected £213million in sales and loans this summer as the financial backbone of the rebuild.

De Zerbi has little patience for the criticism.

“I don’t know, you have to explain to me. For me, no pressure and it’s not a problem. I don’t know why the people don’t love if Tottenham becomes better. It’s one motivation more for us. Last season, all other clubs wanted to kill us. This is another part of football.”

He has turned that siege mentality into a weekly reminder.

“Every week we have to remember last season. The last friendly game against Hoffenheim, the time before was against Everton. You can imagine the difference between that game and the game against Everton when we stayed up with all that pressure.”

On paper, he feels the squad is close to what he envisioned when he took over. On the grass, he is not making promises.

“On paper it’s very close. On the pitch we have to see and we have to work. I am experienced enough not to say too much. I’m very happy with the squad. We have to complete the squad but at the moment very happy.

“Maybe we have to see on the pitch. To be honest, everyone, we are very excited but in the end the pitch speaks, as we say in Italian.”

Then he went deeper, away from tactics and into something more intangible.

“Football is a connection. Football is like magic. You can find sometimes the connection between players when every player thinks like the coach or we come together with an idea of football and the players who don’t start in the team are the biggest fans of the players who are playing. We have to create something on the pitch and off the pitch to compete like we want.”

Tonali the centrepiece

The headline signing is clear. Sandro Tonali, a £100million club-record arrival from Newcastle, now sits at the heart of this project. De Zerbi has known the Italy international for years, but working with him has sharpened that admiration.

“Sandro Tonali is better than I thought before working with him, as a player and as a guy. I know his family, his agents, and I know they all are good people,” he said.

“I’m very happy to work with him and I think he’s the right player in the right place. Especially because we want to put him inside of the project. He has the right qualities, the right personality, the right values, to stay in this place.”

This is not a squad built to keep everyone comfortable. With 11 days of the window left, De Zerbi made it crystal clear that he will not be massaging egos.

“Nothing [to do]. I love speaking clearly. Today is August 21st, I think every one of those players, they already know the squad. If one of them doesn’t want to accept the competition inside the pitch, inside the dressing room, they can leave.

“I try to be honest and to decide the better decision I can on the pitch to find the best first XI, but the players have to accept why because if we want to become better, if we want to compete for the top of the table, 11 players are not enough, 15 players are not enough.

If you analyse the teams – Liverpool two years ago, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Milan – the squad there has a big competition inside the dressing room.”

Pathways and pressure for the kids

Amid the influx of big names, the question hangs over the club’s brightest academy talents. Mikey Moore, 19, is expected to feature against Brentford in Saturday’s Premier League opener, even as a possible loan to Bundesliga side Koln is discussed.

De Zerbi is keeping his cards close to his chest on that front.

“Now is not the right moment to speak about the last 10 days of transfer market. I think it’s not finished yet I said. I’m very happy with Mikey Moore, he’s working well, he’s a good player, I don’t know if he goes or not on loan.

“I think he has a big potential for the club and we try to find the best solution for every player we have, also for Luca Williams-Barnett or Malachi [Hardy], two potential big players. Proud that they come from our academy. We have to manage them the best way we can.”

The message is that opportunity remains – but it must be earned inside a squad built to compete with Europe’s elite.

Rediscovering the soul of Tottenham

De Zerbi’s rebuild is not just financial or tactical. He wants his players, especially the foreign signings, to feel the weight and history of the shirt. To that end, he arranged for a host of club legends – Glenn Hoddle, Gary Mabbutt, Steve Perryman and others – to speak to the current squad.

“The players and especially the foreign players, they have to understand the level of this club. Even if we finish two seasons in a row in 17th position, nothing changes and the level of the club can’t change because in the last two seasons it was not great.

The legends, I think they can explain better than me or better than you what Tottenham has been [before] in the Premier League and in Europe.

One name, though, was missing from that roll call.

“I’m sorry I didn’t see Chris Waddle,” De Zerbi admitted. “Chris Waddle was one of my favourite players when I was a kid and he played in Marseille. In Marseille I said the same like this and Waddle would have been good for Kudus, for Kulusevski, for Xavi Simons, for Mathys [Tel] because he was a great player.”

Tottenham now stride into the new season with a £100million midfielder, a swollen transfer bill, and a coach unafraid to challenge every player in the dressing room. The money is on the table. The history has been laid out in front of them.

Now, as De Zerbi keeps reminding anyone who will listen, only the pitch will decide whether this is a revolution or just another expensive reset.