Tottenham's £237m Gamble: Van de Ven Embraces New Ambition Under De Zerbi
Micky van de Ven has lived the worst of Tottenham. Now he thinks he might be about to see the best.
After back-to-back 17th-place finishes and a season he calls “unacceptable”, the 25-year-old defender believes Spurs have finally snapped out of their drift. The club has handed new head coach Roberto De Zerbi a staggering £237m transfer budget and, in Van de Ven’s eyes, that money speaks louder than any mission statement.
“It’s really good that you can see the club has made some changes,” he told BBC Sport on the club’s pre-season tour in Australia. “You can see the club has a new ambition. It’s something that’s really important for players who have been here for a long time. Last season was a stressful season, unacceptable from our side, so to leave all of that behind and go into the new season fresh means a lot.”
From Survival Scramble to Statement Summer
Spurs staggered through 2025-26, clinging to their Premier League status for a second straight year. The mood around the club was flat, the football functional at best, and the sense of direction almost non-existent.
Then came late March and a sharp turn: De Zerbi through the door, pragmatism out of the window.
The Italian has wasted no time reshaping the club in his own image. Training sessions now revolve around the ball, not the block. Risk is no longer a dirty word. Van de Ven, a defender who likes to step out and play, sounds almost relieved.
“It’s going to be different compared to the manager we had last season,” he said. “It’s going to be more with the ball, I think, more about playing football. I think it’s also going to be more enjoyable for people to watch because we’ll be playing offensive football.”
For a squad drained by two years of survival mode, the change in tone matters as much as the tactics.
“You can see he [De Zerbi] has brought a lot of passion into our group, a lot in terms of mentality and passion on the pitch,” Van de Ven added. “It is something we needed because everybody was a little bit down. He brings a lot of good energy and, from pre-season, we have really had the time to bring his football into the team. That’s really enjoyable.”
Record Fees, Big Names, No Hiding Place
If De Zerbi’s ideas have lit the spark, the club’s spending has poured fuel on it.
Tottenham have smashed their transfer record twice in 48 frantic hours. First came Mateus Fernandes from West Ham for £85m, a bold raid on a Premier League rival. Then, almost before the dust had settled, Sandro Tonali arrived from Newcastle United for £100m, a marquee signing in any era, let alone after two seasons flirting with relegation.
The rebuild does not stop there. Dutch defender Jan Paul van Hecke has joined from Brighton for £52m, giving De Zerbi another ball-playing option at the back. Around that core, Spurs have moved smartly in the free-agent market, adding experience in Andrew Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka.
This is not a gentle reset. It is a full-throttle attempt to change the club’s trajectory.
Van de Ven can feel the difference already, even thousands of miles from north London.
“The feeling of the team is really good, to be honest,” he said from Sydney. “I have really enjoyed working with him [De Zerbi]. That’s what we have been doing in this pre-season, and the guys who are coming in have been unbelievable as well. They have fit in well to the group.”
De Zerbi Draws a Line
Money and optimism are one thing. Turning that into points is another.
De Zerbi has made it clear he will not carry passengers into this new era. The Italian has already warned that any player unhappy with the direction of travel should find a way out. No half-measures, no hiding behind contracts.
For Van de Ven and the core of this squad, that clarity seems to have sharpened the focus. The message is simple: buy in, or move on.
On the pitch, the early signs are encouraging. Tottenham have opened their pre-season tour of Oceania with a win over Auckland FC in New Zealand and now move on to face Sydney FC on Wednesday. The results in July and August will not define De Zerbi’s reign, but the foundations laid here will.
A club that has spent two years staring nervously over its shoulder is finally looking up again. Now the question is brutal and unavoidable: after a £237m reset and a manager built for front-foot football, where is there left to hide if this doesn’t work?
