Tottenham Agrees £75m Deal for Savinho as De Zerbi Seeks Team Identity
Tottenham’s spending spree is about to hit a new gear. Again.
The club have reached an agreement to sign winger Savinho from Manchester City in a £75million deal, with a further £10m in potential add-ons. Spurs are also pushing to land his City team‑mate Omar Marmoush as Roberto De Zerbi continues a sweeping overhaul of his squad.
If Savinho’s move is completed, Tottenham’s outlay this summer will surge past £300m. They have already broken their transfer record twice in the same window: first with the £85m capture of Mateus Fernandes, then shattering it again with Sandro Tonali’s £100m switch from Newcastle.
For all the noise around the numbers, De Zerbi refused to be drawn into specifics on Savinho.
“It is not right to speak about players until they are official,” the Italian said when asked about the Brazil international. “Just to say, I am very happy. We have not finished yet in the transfer market. It is an important part.
“So far, we have had a great [summer for] signings. Great players and personalities. But you don’t win the game with big-name players. We have to deserve to win games.”
That last line cut through the excitement. Big cheques, yes. Big expectations, certainly. Guarantees? None.
De Zerbi stressed the collective effort behind Tottenham’s aggressive rebuild.
“We are working very well with Johan Lange, with Vinai [Venkatesham], and with Nick [Beucher] — with the whole board,” he said, underlining the alignment between the head coach and the club’s hierarchy at a time when Spurs are reshaping almost every department of the squad.
‘It feels like I’ve been here ten years’
De Zerbi only arrived in March, parachuted in to drag Spurs away from a relegation fight that went to the final day. The escape has clearly left a mark.
“It feels like I’ve been here ten years, but just three months,” he reflected. “Three very intense months. We can’t forget what happened last season. It’s a big lesson for us. We are building a big project.”
That “lesson” is driving much of what is happening now: the record fees, the churn, the insistence that this is about more than just star names. Tottenham are trying to bury the trauma of last season by constructing something sturdier, and De Zerbi is determined that it has a clear identity.
Finding the ‘soul’ of Spurs
Amid the flurry of arrivals, the Italian outlined what he calls his two “big challenges” for the summer.
“Now the big challenge — the first two targets — we are very clear in ourselves, is to find the soul of the team,” he said. “The second target is to improve in our organisation of football, with the ball and without the ball.
“Our style has to be the key of our season. These two characteristics I want to find as soon as possible.”
It is a striking contrast: a club throwing around £100m deals while the head coach keeps talking about soul, organisation and style. Yet that tension may define Tottenham’s season. They are buying talent at a rate rarely seen in north London. De Zerbi wants something less tangible but far harder to fake.
If Savinho and, potentially, Marmoush walk through the door next, they will join a dressing room already transformed by money. The question now is whether De Zerbi can turn that investment into the identity he craves — before the Premier League finds out what this new Spurs really are.
