Updated: 20 Jun 2026 22:11 BST |
5 min read
Tottenham have been told to back manager Robert De Zerbi by giving him a strong influence in their transfer decisions this summer.
De Zerbi arrived at Spurs late last season to help secure their Premier League survival, and already they have been highly active in the transfer window in a bid to avoid another nightmare campaign.
The North London side have moved quickly to snap up Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi on free transfers from Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively, while they have raided Brighton to snap up Jan Paul van Hecke.
Tottenham will not stop there. David Ornstein has confirmed on The Athletic that a bid has been made to Newcastle for unsettled midfielder Sandro Tonali.
Spurs have to back De Zerbi in the transfer market
With the transfer window shaping up to be an exciting one for Spurs, Jermaine Jenas has told the club it is essential that De Zerbi is given a decisive influence in the transfer market.
Jenas, who played more than 200 matches for Tottenham across all competitions, told FootballTransfers:
“It’s one of those funny ones in this modern era. You know, you give managers too much control, they bring in whoever they want, then they get sacked and they leave a load of mess for the next person to clear up.
“The issue that Tottenham have had is their recruitment over the last two or three windows hasn’t been amazing.
“On this particular situation right now, I’d still like to see more of a 70/30 split in De Zerbi’s favour.
“The chairman put out a letter at the end of the season basically stating that they brought De Zerbi in on this five-year deal, which shows that they have all this faith in him and so on and so forth.
“And I think, well, if you’re going to get behind him, then get behind him. Let him go and buy what he wants. Let him build a team and give him as long as he wants. Even if it doesn’t start very well, the proof will be in the pudding. But I would like to see him have about 70/30 control in this particular window, and then you can gauge it from there on in.”
Spurs set for big summer
The early evidence is that Tottenham will go big in the transfer market.
The bid for Tonali was worth around €92 million (£80m), and even though Sky Sports reports that Newcastle turned it down, it is proof of the intention of the Londoners to back their new boss with expensive additions.
De Zerbi has said that he plans to build a ‘new team’ this summer.
Speaking after leading Spurs to Premier League survival last month, he said:
“We do not have to change too many players. We have 10, 11, 12 players good enough to stay, good enough as players and especially as people.
“Then we have to complete the squad with first level players. First level because we suffer too much. The fans, the club, the board, the players, they suffer too much. We are Tottenham and we can’t suffer like this until the last second of the last game to stay up.
“And I will be stronger. I don’t want to decide alone because football is a group, the sporting director, scouting, CEO, but my target is finished, to stay up. My target now is to start pre-season with the team in my dream, in my head.”
De Zerbi has wasted no time in strengthening his side, and that should put Tottenham in good stead for next term.
Jermaine Jenas was talking to Football Transfers on behalf of 10bet, who offer live roulette as well as sports betting.
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