Updated: 27 Apr 2026 21:24 BST |
4 min read
Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi is ready to revisit Marseille in order to make a summer signing as the Italian’s rebuild at Spurs picks up momentum.
The London giants have already moved quickly to reach agreements in principle to sign free agents Marcos Senesi and Andrew Robertson from Bournemouth and Liverpool respectively, with these deals hinging on Spurs avoiding relegation.
With the defence set to be reinforced with the arrival of two players, De Zerbi appears to be turning his thoughts to the midfield, where Bild reports he is studying the possibility of signing Arthur Vermeeren from RB Leipzig.
De Zerbi has already worked with Vermeeren at Marseille, where the Belgium international has spent the last season.
The German source indicates that OM have no intention of taking up the €20 million buy option in their loan agreement, opening the door for the 21-year-old to reunite with his former manager at Stade Velodrome.
Potential competition could arise from Inter Milan, who are also monitoring the player.
Why Vermeeren is a smart signing
Vermeeren would be a value signing around the €20m mark. His Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) sits at €27.7m, indicating that Spurs would be getting strong value for the player, who has previously turned out for Royal Antwerp and Atletico Madrid in what has been a busy start to his young career.
Data analytics firm SciSports indicates that the deep-lying playmaker would not necessarily make an immediate impact on the current Spurs squad, initially arriving as a backup.
However, he is a player with an enormous ceiling and could develop into a key figure for the London side given time.
Given that he is a player with so much potential going below his valuation, Spurs could well see him as a classic transfer market opportunity: the risks are limited by the low signing fee but the rewards are potentially high.
‘I didn’t see him play well’ – Will De Zerbi really sign Vermeeren?
De Zerbi is likely to change things around at Spurs significantly. Tottenham have spent the last two years battling against relegation, and while they have many players with strong reputations, this has not been translated into on-field performance.
But on the flip side, there is an exciting young core to the team. Among their best prosects are young central midfielder Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray, and though the latter has been used in defence at times this season, the presence of this pair raises questions as to what the long-term plan with Vermeeren would be.
On top of this, the Belgian has struggled in recent months to start at Marseille, raising some questions over his ability to make an immediate impact in the Premier League.
De Zerbi once branded Vermeeren the “present and future of Marseille”, but by January had reassessed his opinion. Addressing the player’s situation after he had been dropped for a clash with Nantes, the coach said:
“I don’t know if he’s lost confidence. I didn’t see him play well, either physically or mentally, but I didn’t say that he couldn’t play in the future. I have to evaluate each player every week.
“Before the Nantes game, I saw that Vermeeren wasn’t at his best. We need to find consistency.”
Vermeeren had been strong for Marseille at the beginning of the season, but it would still be quite a U-turn if De Zerbi was to sanction this move in the current climate at Tottenham.
Related stories:
Tottenham watch ‘exceptional’ 18-year-old as De Zerbi eyes Bergvall repeat
Transfer Rumours: Man Utd ‘will make’ Leao summer move after new personal scouting mission
The FootballTransfers app
Check out FootballTransfers’ new app for all of football’s big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.
The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:
•Google Play
•App Store
