Tottenham's Summer Transfer Plans: De Zerbi's Next Moves
Tottenham’s summer spree isn’t done yet. Not by a long way, if Roberto De Zerbi is to be believed.
The Italian has already overseen a window that would satisfy most managers for a couple of years, let alone a couple of months. Around £237million has gone on six new signings, a full-scale refit that has brought Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke to north London, with Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka arriving on free transfers to round out the rebuild.
And still, De Zerbi wants more.
‘Like a shark’ – De Zerbi hunts his next attacker
The Tottenham head coach did little to play down expectations when asked about the next phase of the window. His description of himself in the market was as blunt as it was revealing.
"In the transfer market, when I want one player, I become like a shark. No chance to say no," he told football.london.
This is not a manager content to admire his work from a distance. He sees the squad as only partly constructed.
"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."
That “bomba” is expected to be an attacker. The club are pushing for reinforcements in the final third before the window shuts on September 1, with both a winger and potentially another striker on the agenda.
Savinho on the radar
Standard Sport understands that Tottenham hold a serious interest in Manchester City winger Savinho. The Brazilian has reportedly told City this week that he wants to leave in search of regular minutes, a stance that has alerted Spurs as they look to add pace and penetration out wide.
Savinho sits high on a list of targets drawn up in March during talks between De Zerbi and sporting director Johan Lange. His appeal is obvious: direct running, the ability to dart in behind defences, and a profile that fits the high-tempo, front-foot football De Zerbi demands.
Asked if a deal for a new forward was close, De Zerbi admitted there were still details to be ironed out, but he made clear he expects negotiations to move quickly. The sense from inside the club is that attacking business is not a vague ambition. It is an active operation.
Built from the full-backs out
What De Zerbi wants from his new winger is very specific. This is not simply a case of adding another dribbler to the squad. It is about unlocking what he believes is one of the strongest full-back units in the game.
"No two players are the same,” he said. “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.
"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, 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 is the crux of his thinking. The winger must complement Porro’s relentless overlapping, Udogie’s surges inside, Robertson’s experience and delivery, and Spence’s versatility. The new arrival will not simply hug the touchline; he will be part of an attacking chain built from deep.
Project only 60 per cent complete
Tottenham’s summer already looks aggressive on paper. A marquee midfielder in Tonali, a highly rated young talent in Fernandes, a defender in Van Hecke, plus three seasoned free agents to reinforce the spine. Many clubs would close the chequebook there.
De Zerbi sees only a partial picture. By his own calculation, just 60 per cent of the project is done. The missing 40 per cent lies in the final third, where he wants more goals, more chaos, more threat.
Spurs have set the stage with their full-backs. The next signing, the “bomba” he promises, will show whether this rebuild is merely ambitious or genuinely transformative.
