Tottenham have spent the entire summer being remade in Roberto De Zerbi’s image. Ten players have arrived, 17 have left, and the fee for a single midfielder is more than the club used to spend in a whole window.
Then the season started.
Spurs sit bottom of the Premier League with zero points and zero goals after two matches, a 3-0 defeat at Brentford on the opening weekend followed by a 2-0 home loss to Newcastle. It is Tottenham’s worst opening to a league campaign since the 1974-75 season.
Seven years after Pochettino’s warning
In May 2019, weeks before the Champions League final in Madrid, Mauricio Pochettino stood in front of reporters and told the club exactly what came next.
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“We need to rebuild. It’s going to be painful,” he said at the time.
The rebuild did not come. Pochettino was sacked in November of that year, and a succession of managers, from José Mourinho to Antonio Conte to Ange Postecoglou, worked with squads that were patched rather than overhauled. It has taken seven summers, and a new head coach, for anyone at Spurs to actually do what Pochettino asked for.
The signings behind the £382m outlay
De Zerbi was appointed on 31 March 2026 on a long-term contract, and sporting director Johan Lange made no secret of who had driven the choice.
“Roberto was our number one target for the summer and we are very pleased to be able to bring him in now,” Lange said in the club’s announcement.
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The window that followed reflected his priorities. Sandro Tonali arrived from Newcastle for £100m, Mateus Fernandes from West Ham for £85m, and Sávio from Manchester City in the same £85m bracket, according to Livescore. Jan Paul van Hecke, whom De Zerbi coached at Brighton, followed for £52m.
Three free transfers filled the experience gaps: Andy Robertson from Liverpool, Marcos Senesi from Bournemouth and goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka from Burnley. Omar Marmoush arrived on loan from Manchester City with an obligation to buy for £60m next summer, per Sports Mole’s summary.
Deadline-day Chelsea double
The final hours of the window on Tuesday, 1 September, were spent raiding Chelsea. Tottenham signed defender Tosin Adarabioyo permanently on a five-year deal, while Mykhailo Mudryk joined on a season-long loan with a £75m option to make the move permanent.
The Mudryk deal reunited De Zerbi with a player he coached at Shakhtar Donetsk before the winger’s £89m move to Chelsea in 2023. Mudryk only returned last month from a 20-month suspension after an adverse finding for the banned substance meldonium in 2024.
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“Having worked with Misha earlier in his career, I know exactly what he can bring to our team. He has the quality to change a game,” De Zerbi said of the signing.
The 17 out
The departures reached the spine of the previous squad. Captain Cristian Romero was sold to Atlético Madrid. Djed Spence joined Inter Milan for £30m. Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, defender Radu Drăgușin and midfielder Pape Matar Sarr were among those sent out on loan. Yves Bissouma left as a free agent.
De Zerbi’s opening message to supporters was that results, not signings, would define the project.
“Our short-term priority is to climb the Premier League table, which will be the complete focus until the final whistle of the last game of the season,” he said on the day he took the job.
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Tottenham’s next Premier League match is away at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, 5 September at 3pm local time.
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