Tottenham's Summer Transfer Strategy: De Zerbi's Pursuit of a Final Bomba
Tottenham’s summer of heavy spending is not done yet. Not if Roberto De Zerbi has anything to do with it.
The Italian has already overseen a window that would satisfy most boards and most fanbases: around £237million committed, six new faces through the door, and a squad reshaped in his image. Yet he stood in front of the cameras and made it clear that this is only part one.
“When I want one player, I become like a shark. No chance to say no,” he told football.london. It was not a throwaway line. It was a warning.
Spurs still hunting “another bomba”
Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke have all arrived for significant fees, adding steel, control and depth through the spine of the team. On top of that, Spurs have moved smartly in the free-agent market, snapping up Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka to thicken the squad without further denting the budget.
Most clubs would call that a window. De Zerbi calls it “60 per cent” of a project.
“The transfer market, it’s not finished for sure,” he said. “We completed 60 per cent of our project in the transfer market. Now we have another bomba.”
That “bomba” is expected to be an attacker. Standard Sport understands Tottenham are pushing to add at least one more forward, with Manchester City winger Savinho high among the options. The Brazilian has told City he wants regular minutes; Spurs are offering exactly that and a prominent role in a team built to attack.
De Zerbi admitted that details still need to be ironed out, but the tone was clear: this is not a vague ambition, it is an active hunt. He wants the deal wrapped up quickly, with the window shutting on September 1 and attacking reinforcements marked as the final major piece of the summer.
Winger first, striker maybe – but always with the full-backs in mind
The priority is a winger. A striker could follow if the right opportunity appears, but the head coach’s obsession lies out wide, where he believes his system truly breathes.
Savinho’s direct running and ability to dart in behind defences fit the profile drawn up in meetings between De Zerbi and sporting director Johan Lange back in March. That list was not built on reputation alone; it was built on how a winger would mesh with the full-backs who, in De Zerbi’s eyes, are the heartbeat of this Tottenham side.
“No two players are the same,” he said. “A winger can be a very wide winger, one able to come inside, a winger without a full-back, a winger able to play with the full-back.”
Then came the telling part. De Zerbi did not start with the potential new signing. He started with what he already has.
“We have four great full-backs at the moment, maybe the four most important full-backs in the world, because I think Pedro Porro is the best right-back in the world, with [Destiny] Udogie, Robertson, and Djed Spence can play right and left.
“Before bringing in a winger, we have to consider the full-back, because we start from the full-back, from the player we already have, no?”
That is the tactical lens through which this late-window move will be made. The winger is not a standalone star; he is a multiplier for Porro, Udogie, Robertson and Spence. Someone who can stretch the pitch when Porro darts inside, who can vacate or overload the flank depending on the pattern, who understands that at Tottenham under De Zerbi, the full-back is often the first playmaker.
De Zerbi’s Tottenham take shape
This is why the Italian speaks in percentages and projects rather than simply “signings”. Tonali gives him control in midfield. Fernandes and van Hecke add legs and aggression. Robertson and Senesi bring experience and left-sided balance. Dubravka shores up the goalkeeping department.
The missing element is the wide attacker who ties it all together, the player who turns those marauding full-backs from a threat into a constant problem for opponents.
Tottenham have spent big and moved early, but De Zerbi is not easing off as the deadline approaches. He wants one more decisive swing in the market.
For a club that has often hesitated in key moments of past windows, the question now is simple: with their head coach circling like a “shark”, will Spurs land the “bomba” that completes his vision?
