Tottenham Sign Andy Robertson as De Zerbi Resets Squad
Tottenham have finally landed Andy Robertson, prising the Scotland captain away from Liverpool on a free transfer as Roberto De Zerbi begins a hard reset after last season’s brush with disaster.
Spurs survived on the final day with a tense home win over Everton. De Zerbi walked off the pitch that afternoon with relief in his eyes and a blunt assessment on his lips: he had “10, 11, 12 players good enough to stay” and “we have now to change too many players.” The overhaul starts with Robertson – and it starts with leadership.
Robertson arrives as De Zerbi’s standard-bearer
Tottenham tried to get this deal done in January and failed. They return now, six months later, with the same target but a very different price: nothing. Robertson’s contract at Liverpool has expired after nine hugely successful seasons, and Spurs have moved quickly to secure a defender who has spent the last decade at the sharp end of elite football.
At 32, he comes in as more than just a left-back. He is Scotland’s captain, currently preparing for the World Cup, and a player steeped in high-intensity, high-expectation environments. That is exactly what De Zerbi wants in a dressing room that fractured and faded when the pressure rose last season.
“Andy is someone I’ve admired for a number of years and he will bring outstanding technical qualities, experience, leadership and mentality to our team,” De Zerbi said. “He is a proven winner at the highest level over a long period and is someone who can be a big player for us, both on and off the pitch.”
The message is clear: this is a culture signing as much as a tactical one.
Defence in flux, Romero likely to go
Robertson’s arrival comes as the spine of Spurs’ defence threatens to break apart. De Zerbi has spoken warmly about Cristian Romero, the club captain, who missed the closing weeks of the campaign with a knee injury. On the pitch, he remains the emotional heartbeat of the back line.
Off it, few inside the dressing room expect him to be around much longer. Within the squad, there is little belief Romero will still be at the club when the summer window closes. That sense of inevitability hangs over the rebuild.
Micky van de Ven, Romero’s partner at centre-half, is also in demand. Liverpool are among the clubs tracking him, and Spurs are already working through contingency plans. De Zerbi is pushing for two new central defenders: Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke of Brighton.
Senesi is out of contract, and Spurs have a deal lined up for the Argentine, a move that would fit their need for experience without a transfer fee. Van Hecke is different: younger, familiar with De Zerbi’s methods from their time together at Brighton, and a defender who can step into possession-heavy football without blinking. If both arrive, Tottenham’s back line could look radically different in a matter of weeks.
Attacking targets and Palhinha’s stance
The rebuild does not stop at the back. Spurs are also pushing in the attacking wide areas, chasing Savinho from Manchester City and holding an interest in Fulham’s Harry Wilson. Both would add direct running and end product to a side that too often ran out of ideas and intensity.
In midfield, there is at least one piece De Zerbi would rather not lose. João Palhinha, on loan from Bayern Munich, wants to stay. The Portuguese midfielder has given Spurs bite and structure in front of the defence, and his desire to remain offers rare continuity in a summer defined by churn.
If Tottenham can lock Palhinha down permanently while dropping Robertson into the back four and reshaping the centre of defence, the spine of De Zerbi’s team will start to look more like his own.
Power play off the pitch
While De Zerbi reshapes the squad, a very different kind of battle is brewing in the boardroom.
An American investment group, Eight Sports Capital, led by tech entrepreneur and former DJ Brooklyn Earick, claims to have agreed a deal to buy Daniel Levy’s 24.99% stake in Spurs’ parent company, Enic Sports and Development Holdings Limited. Levy, forced off the board last September but still holding 29.88% of Enic, has been in talks with multiple parties about selling his shares for some time.
Eight Sports Capital, owned by Triller – a US entertainment company with a strong footprint in combat sports, including bare-knuckle fighting – went public on Friday, stating they have agreed to purchase Levy’s stake. It marks a dramatic twist given that Earick’s hostile takeover attempt was emphatically rejected by Tottenham’s owners last year.
“We are delighted to have signed this agreement to acquire a significant stake in Enic,” a spokesperson for Eight Sports Capital said. “We look forward to working with the club’s shareholders, management, staff, players and fans to support Tottenham Hotspur’s continued growth and success.”
The claim has been met with silence and scepticism in north London. Sources close to Levy declined to confirm that any sale has been agreed. Representatives of the Lewis family, who own Tottenham through Enic, say they are unaware of a completed deal. The club itself has also declined to comment.
So the picture is murky. But the implications are not. Any sale to Eight Sports Capital would have major consequences for Tottenham’s future and could ignite a power struggle for ultimate control of the club.
On the pitch, De Zerbi has his first lieutenant in Andy Robertson and a clear mandate to tear up what nearly got Spurs relegated. Off it, the fault lines of ownership are starting to shift. One question now looms over north London: who will actually be in charge of the club De Zerbi is rebuilding?
