Tottenham Hotspur are getting close to their next manager after parting ways with Igor Tudor, and it appears they will be able to get their No. 1 choice after all. For some reason, Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham have been obsessed with bringing Roberto De Zerbi back to the Premier League, where he had a briefly positive tenure at Brighton before completely falling out with the club over transfer strategy.
De Zerbi most recently coached Marseille as Tudor's successor, and his volatile personality and willingness to bring in any player, regardless of allegations of morally reprehensible and criminal behavior, rubbed many the wrong way. His time at OM was wildly unsuccessful, more famous for dust ups and controversy than success on the pitch.
And yet Tottenham Hotspur have been desperate to hire him. Initially, De Zerbi wanted to wait until after the 2025/26 season ended to choose his next job, and he also didn't seem to keen on Spurs overall. Unlike Mauricio Pochettino, he apparently wanted to see Spurs stay up in the Premier League before considering the position.
Tottenham are going to pay Roberto De Zerbi a lot
So what is changing his mind? As Fabrizio Romano reports, Tottenham have a five year contract on the table for Roberto De Zerbi with a "top salary". He has "always" been their "priority", and it was Fab, after all, who first reported in January after RDZ left Marseille that he was the top choice. The two parties are now in "regular contact" to hammer out a deal.
Basically, Tottenham have resorted to throwing so much money at De Zerbi that he cannot possibly say no. There are serious concerns about De Zerbi being able to turn a team around this quickly, and since De Zerbi is known for very public and quick break ups with clubs and he was not interested in the job if Spurs did not stay up, then he could very well sink them down and leave after collecting a huge payday.
Because you also have to think that if Spurs are paying him a "top salary", then they are also paying him some big clauses if he stays up - or giving him the ability to leave the club if they go down and still cash in.
Tottenham are mortgaging themselves for De Zerbi, who is the sort of character you don't want to do business with or trust like this. Meanwhile, Spurs could have had Mauricio Pochettino, who probably would have taken less money.