Even though Tottenham Hotspur have been a disaster this season and are just one point above the Premier League relegation zone following their 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, part of what makes Spurs such a disaster is the fact that they've had a lot of injuries and have underperformed their talent level due to a mix of egoes and horrible coaching from Thomas Frank.
So Roberto De Zerbi joins Spurs with the ability to make a huge mark by getting some very talented footballers to play at their best together. It will be tough, but here are three players who will blossom under De Zerbi.
CM Archie Gray
Even just the brief upgrade from Thomas Frank to Igor Tudor helped the young Tottenham No. 6 shine, as Archie Gray has been the star of Spurs these last few weeks, even in some of the awful losses. Gray has the best ball progression and pure passing ability on the ball of any Tottenham midfielder - or player, in general. De Zerbi will learn to lean on him pretty quickly, and as the focal point of the deep build up, Gray could improve rapidly into true stardom under the Italian manager.
CM Lucas Bergvall
Lucas Bergvall is a phenom, too, and had such a great 2024/25 season for Tottenham Hotspur. He regressed this season due to injury and the fact that Thomas Frank was a horrid coach, constantly playing the Swedish prospect out of position. If De Zerbi can harness the full potential of this box to box monster and give him the freedom to roam and wreck as a true No. 8, he will immediately be close to world class.
AM Xavi Simons
It felt a little bit cheap picking three center midfielders and leaving the likes of Mohammed Kudus and Mathys Tel out of it as key attacking difference makers on the wings, but Xavi Simons is such a talented footballer and has shown real flashes of the superstardom he consistently displayed in league and European competition for both PSV and RB Leipzig previously.
Roberto De Zerbi loves his uber athletic and uber technical creative, box to box hybrid mavens. He was cooking with them at Brighton, Sassuolo, and Shakhtar Donetsk previously, but Simons is the best player he will work with. If he can get him into better positions to affect play in the final third, Simons could be come a double digit assist guy next season pretty easily.