Tottenham’s summer overhaul: De Zerbi’s new Spurs line-up
Tottenham did not celebrate survival. They exhaled, took stock, and immediately reached for the detonator.
That nervy 1-0 win over Everton on the final day kept them in the Premier League. It also confirmed what Roberto De Zerbi already knew: this squad had reached the end of the road. The Italian promised sweeping change. The club has backed him. And this is only the beginning.
A new spine, a new voice
Three signings through the door before pre-season has properly settled into a rhythm tells its own story. De Zerbi wanted experience, leadership and a different kind of edge. He has gone straight for the dressing room’s core.
Andy Robertson, a serial winner at Liverpool, arrives to stiffen the left side of the defence and the mentality in the room. Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke join to reshape a back line that creaked its way to safety last term. All three know what it is to fight, organise and bark instructions when the pressure rises.
That pressure is not easing. The futures of captain Cristian Romero and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario hang over the project. Lucas Bergvall and Luka Vuskovic, two of the club’s brightest young hopes, have made it clear they want to go. De Zerbi is building something new, but he may have to dismantle more than he expected to get there.
By the time August 22 rolls around, Tottenham could be unrecognisable.
The goalkeeper question
Vicario has never played a minute under De Zerbi. Hernia surgery ruled him out of the run-in, and in his absence, something interesting happened.
Antonin Kinsky, the unheralded understudy, stepped in and helped steady a defence that had been leaking confidence and goals. He did enough to make his manager think. If Vicario does complete a much-mooted return to Italy – with Inter Milan circling the 29-year-old – Kinsky is no longer just a placeholder. He is a genuine candidate to start the season as No1.
Yet Tottenham are not blind to the market. James Trafford, frustrated at Manchester City and eager for regular football, sits on their radar. There have been no formal talks, no bid, no breakthrough. But the interest is real, and De Zerbi knows a modern, ball-playing keeper can define his style as much as any outfield signing.
For now, the goal remains an open contest, both in terms of personnel and philosophy.
Defence ripped up and rewritten
If there is one area where De Zerbi has already left fingerprints, it is the back four.
Romero, the current captain and emotional barometer of this team, is expected to move on. In his place, the club have invested heavily and decisively. Jan Paul van Hecke, a £52million recruit, looks primed to anchor the defence alongside Micky van de Ven in what could become an all-Dutch central partnership.
Van de Ven has admirers elsewhere and could yet be tempted, but De Zerbi is pushing hard to keep him. The plan is clear: make him the defensive leader, possibly even hand him the armband if Romero walks away. A rapid, aggressive centre-half with the captain’s responsibility on his shoulders – that is the image De Zerbi has in mind.
Out wide, the picture is more settled. Destiny Udogie remains first-choice at left-back, his explosive running and attacking instincts too valuable to sideline. Robertson, for all his pedigree, is expected to offer cover, competition and know-how rather than displace him outright. On the right, Pedro Porro has already committed his future with a new long-term deal and will stay the primary outlet, his attacking thrust vital to De Zerbi’s patterns.
The message is blunt: this defence will not be the one that flirted with relegation.
Tonali and the battle for the middle
De Zerbi wants control. Not just possession, but authority. To get that, he needs a different kind of midfielder.
Tottenham have circled Sandro Tonali as their marquee solution. The Newcastle man is the club’s biggest summer target, the player De Zerbi believes can dictate tempo, bite into duels and give Spurs a more commanding presence in the centre of the pitch. He admires Tonali’s range, his aggression, his capacity to drag a team up the pitch.
Newcastle will not let him go cheaply. Any deal would demand a substantial fee and a serious show of intent. If Spurs pull it off, Tonali would likely sit at the base of midfield alongside Rodrigo Bentancur, forming a double pivot with brains and bite. Bentancur’s press resistance and passing, paired with Tonali’s engine and edge, would give De Zerbi a platform he simply did not have last season.
There is also interest in West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes as Tottenham scan for further midfield options. The brief is clear: technical quality, bravery on the ball, and the legs to sustain De Zerbi’s high demands.
Attack: ambition meets reality
Up front, the picture is far more complicated.
Injuries ravaged Spurs’ attack last season, and the scars remain. Dejan Kulusevski’s fitness issues are still a concern, limiting how bold the club can be in moving pieces around. They know they need more firepower, more variety, more goals from wide areas, but they must tread carefully.
Savinho, the electric Manchester City winger, has long been on the club’s wish list. Talks have been revived, with the Brazilian keen to escape the shadow of rotation and secure regular minutes. He fits the profile: direct, fearless, and young enough to grow with the project.
Then there is Marcus Rashford. Frozen out at Manchester United, linked with a fresh start and in need of a reset. His name has joined the list of wide forwards under consideration. The attraction is obvious: Premier League proven, capable of playing wide or centrally, and still in his prime years. The risk is equally stark: form, confidence and the sheer scale of the rebuild around him.
James Maddison, at least, is a constant De Zerbi can count on. Back from injury at the end of last season, he is pencilled in as the No10, the creative hub behind the striker. If he stays fit, he will be central to everything. His vision, set-piece quality and ability to unlock deep defences make him vital in a team that wants to dominate the ball.
The final piece of the puzzle up top is still being debated, but one potential line-up tells its own story of ambition: Trafford in goal; Porro, Van Hecke, Van de Ven and Udogie across the back; Bentancur and Tonali in midfield; Savinho, Maddison and Rashford behind a central striker such as Dominic Solanke.
That is not evolution. That is revolution.
De Zerbi’s tightrope
Money is there. For once, that is not the issue. The challenge lies in how De Zerbi spends it, and where.
He must choose which fires to put out first. A new goalkeeper or trust in Kinsky? A huge outlay on Tonali or spread the budget across two or three positions? Go all-in on a high-profile reclamation project like Rashford, or double down on younger, hungrier wingers like Savinho?
Every decision cuts both ways: short-term impact versus long-term structure; instant headlines versus slow, sustainable growth.
What is certain is that by the time the new Premier League season kicks off, Tottenham will not look like the side that clung to survival in May. They will be De Zerbi’s team, for better or worse – and the only real question is how quickly this bold, expensive vision can turn from blueprint into something that actually wins football matches.
