Roberto De Zerbi admits that Tottenham’s remarkable summer spending spree would not have taken place were it not for the ambition of the club’s owners.
Spurs have spent in excess of £300million this summer to overhaul their squad, and this week announced the signings of Manchester City duo Omar Marmoush and Savio.
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De Zerbi has rightly earned plenty of plaudits for his role in convincing the likes of Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali and Jan Paul van Hecke to join the club so soon after the club narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship.
From calling Van Hecke the moment after Spurs secured safety about the possibility of a transfer to conversations with Fernandes’ parents, De Zerbi’s influence in the transfer window has been notable.
When asked, though, how important he had been to Spurs’ aggressive approach in the transfer market, the Spurs boss instead elected to praise the club’s owners, the Lewis Family, for bankrolling his vision.
“No, (what) makes the difference (is the) behaviour and ambition of the owner,” De Zerbi said.
“Because these players are not here for me or because I need them.
“I am an employee of the club, I’m not the owner. But the ambition of the owner made the difference, for sure, because the owner pushed to close (deals for) the players.
“The owners’ ambition is so big, right through transfers, for every one of us, the players, the board, the staff, with myself. The motivation to do better.”
Despite bringing in eight new players, Spurs are not done yet in the market, and De Zerbi had dinner on Thursday with members of the Lewis Family, CEO Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange about the club’s targets for the final week of the window.
“I think we can do one player more and in one specific position,” De Zerbi continued.
“But yesterday we went for dinner with the owner, with Vinai, with Johan and with (De Zerbi’s translator) Enrico Venturelli. We spoke about this, but we have all of us on the same page and there is a very good connection.”
Spurs are believed to be open to signing another winger or a backup right-back to provide competition for Pedro Porro before the end of the window.
They hold an interest in Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo and Nottingham Forest full-back Neco Williams, but both deals are believed to be difficult to complete at this stage.
