Roberto De Zerbi's Transfer Vision at Tottenham: A Shark in the Market
Roberto De Zerbi is not easing his way into life at Tottenham. He is tearing into it.
The Italian has laid out his transfer vision with the same intensity he demands on the touchline, and he is in no mood to pretend the job is close to done.
"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 like a metaphor and more like a warning to the rest of Europe.
Spurs have already thrown serious money at this rebuild. The headline so far is the £85m move for Mateus Fernandes, a statement signing for a forward line that has been steadily rearmed. Yet De Zerbi insists they are only part of the way there.
"The transfer market, it's not finished for sure, but we completed 60 per cent of our project in the transfer market. Now we have another bomba!" he said, eyes firmly on the next strike.
That “bomba” is widely expected to be Savinho. The Brazilian is understood to be pushing Manchester City to green-light a move to north London, a switch that would add yet another high-end option to De Zerbi’s attacking carousel.
This isn’t just about stockpiling talent. It’s about building a very specific machine.
De Zerbi’s wingers, he explains, must live in constant dialogue with his full-backs. They can hug the touchline, drift inside, operate without a traditional overlapping defender, or combine in tight spaces with one. The key is adaptability to his structure.
"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 said. "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?"
That line tells you everything about his blueprint. The width, the pressing, the rotations – all of it begins with those four full-backs. Any winger who arrives will be chosen not just for flair, but for how well he can sync with them.
Asked if the next signing is close, De Zerbi kept the pressure on the club hierarchy without quite opening the door.
"I hope, but it's not finished for sure."
Romero, respect and the exit door
As the front of the squad is rebuilt, the back is bracing for a major departure.
Cristian Romero, captain and cornerstone, is pushing for a return to Serie A. Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio has already confirmed that talks are active over a move to San Siro for the 2026 World Cup finalist.
De Zerbi made it clear he will not block the defender’s path if he wants out.
"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 explained.
The coach went back to a pivotal moment in April, when he sat the squad down and laid out a stark pact.
"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 stressed, 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 message is layered: gratitude for a leader who bought in, a defence of his professionalism, and an acceptance that this rebuild may cost Spurs one of their elite centre-backs.
Harsh lessons, hard rules
If Romero goes with De Zerbi’s blessing, others will only stay on his terms.
The futures of Lucas Bergvall and Djed Spence are under the microscope, with both drawing interest as the club reshapes its squad. De Zerbi would like to keep them, but not at the expense of the culture he is trying to impose.
"If they stay, they have to stay following my rules, decisions on the pitch," he warned, sending a clear shot across the bows of any player thinking of sulking their way into a move.
"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."
There it is: last season as a cautionary tale. Spurs’ collapse, their fractured dressing room, the sense of drift – all of it now being used as a reference point for what cannot be allowed to happen again.
De Zerbi wants edge, not ego. Competition, not complaint.
For now, his “shark” act in the market continues while his reshaped squad get ready for their first real look under the lights, a pre-season test against Chelsea on Saturday.
The money is flowing, the exits are looming, and the rules are set. Tottenham have their ideologue. Now comes the question that will define their season: can the club match his appetite before the window slams shut?
