New Tottenham Hotspur signing Mateus Fernandes has expressed that he can already relate to Roberto De Zerbi's soccer philosophy.
Fabrizio Romano quoted Fernandes: "I'm very excited for this next step. Spurs is a massive club and De Zerbi was a key part of why I have decided to join. When we spoke, it was very special. We look at football in the same way."
De Zerbi kept Tottenham in the Premier League last season and is expected to take them back into Europe. Spurs got to the Champions League final in 2019 and should not have dropped so low. Fernandes was relegated with West Ham United, which was the second time a team he played for has gone down.
Fernandes also suffered relegation with West Ham, so he will be hoping to have a much more comfortable campaign.
Why is Roberto De Zerbi rated so highly?
De Zerbi is highly rated mainly due to his style of play. He has his team press, keep possession, and are able to rotate positionally. He had limited success in Italy as the manager of Palermo, Benevento, and Sassuolo.
He even suffered relegation with Benevento, but nearly qualified Sassuolo for Europe. It was at Shakhtar Donetsk that he started to impress. He won the Ukrainian Super Cup and had them top of the Ukrainian Premier League before their season was halted due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Brighton and Hove Albion, whose recruitment is exceptional, chose him to be the successor to Graham Potter. Potter had just left Brighton to take over at Chelsea, but De Zerbi still managed to improve his side.
De Zerbi qualified Brighton for the Europa League and further developed the likes of Leandro Trossard, Alexis Mac Allister and Moisés Caicedo. De Zerbi then got a chance with Marseille, whom he managed to get back into the Champions League.
He has managed to maintain a high reputation despite not winning many trophies or lasting very long at clubs. De Zerbi is volatile and is known for clashing with the hierarchy at clubs. He has high standards, but Spurs owe him a debt for keeping them in the Premier League. Tottenham need to keep him happy if he is to be at the club for the long term. This will be interesting to see in the post-Daniel Levy era at Spurs.
Tottenham are backing him with the signings of Fernandes and Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United. Fernandes' quotes show that De Zerbi played a big part in his joining the club. Not many players go from playing for West Ham to Tottenham. Mohammed Kudus did it last year, but before that, the last one to do so was Scott Parker back in 2011.
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