Tottenham's Bomba: The Forward Roberto De Zerbi Wants

Roberto De Zerbi needed only one word to light up north London this week.

“Bomba.”

With that, Tottenham’s head coach sent supporters into detective mode, scouring every whisper and rumour for clues about the mystery forward he says is close to joining. Spurs, he insists, are only “60 per cent” through their summer rebuild. The numbers say otherwise: a club‑record £237million already spent, six signings through the door. De Zerbi wants more firepower anyway.

He has reason. The plan to bring in Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi has collapsed after the 20‑year‑old required foot surgery that will keep him out for up to four months. A key target gone, the search for goals has moved on quickly — and sharply.

So who fits the bill for this “bomba” and the extra attacking depth De Zerbi craves? A handful of names keep circling around Tottenham’s thinking.

Deniz Undav – the late bloomer with ruthless numbers

If De Zerbi wants guaranteed end product, Deniz Undav makes a compelling case.

He never quite exploded at Brighton, though there were flashes — that delicate lob at Arsenal in 2023 still lives long in the memory — but his move to Stuttgart turned him into a force. Back in Germany, he tore through the Bundesliga last season: 19 league goals, at a rate of 0.76 per 90 minutes.

Among strikers in Europe’s top five leagues, that return put him seventh for goals scored and sixth for goals per 90. Those are elite numbers, not the profile of a stopgap.

He carried that form into the World Cup, too. Used as Germany’s super‑sub, Undav produced three goals and two assists in just 69 group-stage minutes. Impact football at its purest.

Technically secure and happy to drop off the front line, he fits neatly into De Zerbi’s template. The Italian wants his No9 to knit play, drag defenders out, and free up wingers to attack the space. Undav does exactly that.

The catch is age. At 30, he does not scream “project signing”, but De Zerbi has already shown a clear bias towards proven quality over long‑term potential. If Tottenham want a finisher now, not in three years, Undav ticks almost every box.

Brian Brobbey – the battering ram who haunts Spurs

Spurs do not need to imagine what Brian Brobbey could bring. They have felt it.

The Sunderland and Netherlands striker scored in a 1-1 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in January, bullying their back line and leaving a lasting impression. Days later, De Zerbi watched him up close again in his first match in charge of Spurs, a 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light. Brobbey dominated that game, ragdolling experienced defenders and setting the tone physically.

He has just come off a superb debut Premier League season with Sunderland and carried that form into the World Cup. Leading the line for the Netherlands, he scored three times as they topped their group, combining rugged hold-up play with sharp, instinctive runs into the box. Their exit on penalties to Morocco in the last 16 felt like a wasted platform for a striker in full flow.

Brobbey’s relentlessness suits De Zerbi’s vision. Tottenham want to press high, suffocate teams, and turn games into 90 minutes of discomfort for opposing centre-backs. Few forwards in England lean into that kind of chaos like Brobbey.

Omar Marmoush – a talent in need of a reset

Omar Marmoush is different. Here, Spurs’ interest is already understood to be real.

The Egyptian forward arrived at Manchester City from Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2025 and started fast, but that early burst faded. Last season, his first full campaign under Pep Guardiola, he managed only three league goals and has now slipped into the “surplus to requirements” category.

Scratch beneath the headline numbers, though, and there is a player De Zerbi could mould. Marmoush is versatile, comfortable dropping deep or spinning in behind, and he brings a directness that can unpick deep blocks. The raw tools are there; the confidence isn’t.

At 27, he sits right in the age bracket De Zerbi wants to drive an instant surge up the table after two years spent looking nervously over their shoulders. Marmoush has already shown he can score in the Premier League. The question is whether Tottenham believe they can unlock that version of him again.

A move to north London, away from City’s crowded front line, might be exactly the reset he needs.

Savinho – raw pace for the wings

If Marmoush is one potential piece, Savinho is another — and in his case, a long-standing one.

The Brazilian winger has been on Spurs’ radar for some time and is viewed more as a partner than the answer to De Zerbi’s “bomba” riddle. He wants the move, too. The attraction is obvious: Savinho brings pace, direct running, and the kind of one‑v‑one threat De Zerbi demands from his wide players.

The numbers are not yet spectacular. Just one league goal last season underlines how much work remains in the final third. Yet his movement and positioning repeatedly put him in dangerous areas. The issue is the finish, not the build‑up.

For a coach who thrives on polishing rough edges, that is an enticing challenge. De Zerbi would back himself to sharpen Savinho’s decision-making and end product, turning raw chaos into something far more calculated.

If Spurs somehow landed both Savinho and Marmoush from Manchester City, the mood music around the club would shift. A top‑six push would no longer feel like ambition; it would start to sound like expectation.

Bradley Barcola – the fantasy “bomba”

Then there is the dream scenario.

On Friday, De Zerbi clarified that his “bomba” referred to a player of “top-level ability”. Few fit that description better than Bradley Barcola, the Paris Saint‑Germain winger who is pushing for more minutes away from a star‑studded squad.

This is the kind of transfer that lives in the “surely not” category. There is no sign Spurs are close to a deal of that scale, and no indication they are in a financial position to simply blow PSG and their rivals out of the water.

But Barcola’s profile is impossible to ignore. A two‑time Champions League winner and a major target for Liverpool this summer, he looks set to become collateral damage in a PSG attack overflowing with talent. That says more about the depth in Paris than it does about him.

If Tottenham somehow found a way, it would be a statement like nothing the club has produced in the modern era. A signing that would force the rest of the Premier League to stop, stare, and reassess where Spurs sit in the hierarchy.

For now, De Zerbi keeps his “bomba” close to his chest. The squad is stronger, the spending has been heavy, and yet the manager wants more goals, more threat, more edge.

The mystery will not last forever. When the name finally drops, we will learn something crucial: are Spurs merely arming themselves for a top‑six fight, or are they about to swing at the elite with a signing that changes the conversation entirely?