Tottenham's Summer of Change: De Zerbi's Vision for Bergvall and Sarr
Roberto De Zerbi is certain about one thing in a summer of upheaval at Tottenham: Lucas Bergvall is going nowhere.
“Lucas Bergvall, 100 per cent [he is staying],” the Italian insisted. No caveats, no shrug. Just a straight answer in a window where very few exist.
Bergvall told the club earlier in the summer, before heading off to the World Cup, that he wanted a new challenge and more responsibility as a number eight. Tottenham turned away offers from Newcastle and Nottingham Forest for the 20-year-old, and De Zerbi backed that stance with action, loading him with starts and minutes across pre-season.
The message seems to have landed.
“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,” De Zerbi said. The tone was calm, almost relaxed. This battle, Spurs feel they have already won.
Sarr’s future in the balance
Where Bergvall is locked in, Pape Matar Sarr is the question mark hanging over the final days of the window. The 23-year-old joined pre-season late after remaining in Senegal until the first week of August, and his place in a suddenly crowded midfield is under scrutiny.
Tottenham have detonated their engine room and rebuilt it at huge cost. Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes have arrived for a combined £185million, transforming the landscape in the middle of the pitch and pushing Sarr’s future into doubt.
“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 said. No guarantees this time. Just realism.
Spending with a purpose
The numbers around Tottenham this summer are staggering. With Manchester City attackers Savinho and Omar Marmoush also on the way, the club’s outlay could hit £377million. For a side that flirted with relegation last season, it is a violent reset.
The Lewis family, Spurs’ owners, had promised “actions not words” after that brush with the drop. De Zerbi is adamant 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.”
The Italian wants this to be a decisive window. Build now, then stop ripping things up.
“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.”
He knows it might not click straight away. He also knows it might.
“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.”
Big money, bigger noise
Tottenham’s spending has provoked predictable fury from rival fans and pundits, despite the club pointing to booming stadium revenues and a potential £213million generated from sales and loans this summer.
De Zerbi is unmoved by the noise. If anything, he welcomes it.
“I don’t know, you have to explain to me,” he said. “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 is using that hostility as fuel and makes sure his players feel it too.
“Every week we have to remember last season,” he added. “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 vs on grass
So how close is this Tottenham to the version De Zerbi holds in his head?
“On paper it’s very close. On the pitch we have to see and we have to work,” he said. “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. The answer I receive from the pitch has to be like my dreams and my thoughts with the board.”
He keeps circling back to the same point: talk is cheap, the pitch is ruthless.
“To be honest, everyone, we are very excited but in the end the pitch speaks, as we say in Italian. If we start now with big words… if we are to be honest and correct, we have to wait for the answer from the pitch.”
“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 £100m centrepiece
At the heart of that vision sits Sandro Tonali, the new £100million man and the most expensive signing in Tottenham’s history after his move from Newcastle. De Zerbi knew the player. He did not fully grasp the package until he started coaching him.
“Sandro Tonali is better than I thought before working with him, as a player and as a guy,” he said. “I know his family, his agents, and I know they all are good people.
“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.”
Tonali is not just a statement signing. He is the reference point for what De Zerbi wants Tottenham to be.
No hiding from competition
With 11 days left in the window, egos will be tested. Some players will see their paths blocked. De Zerbi is not interested in hand-holding.
“Nothing [to do],” he said when asked about keeping everyone happy. “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.”
It is blunt, but it is also the reality of the level Tottenham want to reach.
“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
The influx of attacking talent raises another question: what happens to the academy prospects?
Mikey Moore, 19, is expected to feature against Brentford in Saturday’s Premier League opener, even as a loan move to Bundesliga side Koln is discussed. His situation captures the tension between short-term firepower and long-term development.
“Now is not the right moment to speak about the last 10 days of transfer market,” De Zerbi said. “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.”
Rediscovering Tottenham’s soul
For all the money and all the spreadsheets, De Zerbi has been equally focused on something less tangible: identity. He recently arranged for a large group of former Tottenham players, including Glenn Hoddle, Gary Mabbutt and Steve Perryman, to address his squad and explain what the club truly represents.
“The players and especially the foreign players, they have to understand the level of this club,” he said. “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 legend, though, was missing – and that clearly stung the head coach.
“I’m sorry I didn’t see Chris Waddle,” he 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.”
The money, the noise, the pressure, the promises – all of it now converges on one simple test: when the window shuts and the talking stops, will this rebuilt Tottenham side play like the club De Zerbi keeps telling his players they represent?
