Roberto De Zerbi walked into his pre‑Newcastle briefing with the air of a man juggling two games at once. One is under the lights on Saturday night. The other is the one that doesn’t stop ringing his phone: the transfer market.
Tottenham have already thrown more than £300 million at this window and dragged back close to £150m in sales, a sweeping rebuild that has reshaped the dressing room in a single summer. Yet De Zerbi made it clear the door at Hotspur Way is not closed just yet.
“Can be possible, out,” he said when asked if there could still be departures before the deadline. The market, in his words, is “crazy”, and Spurs are braced for late movement. If players go, others must come. That is the balance he and sporting director Johan Lange are trying to hold as the clock ticks towards 11pm on Tuesday.
De Zerbi admitted even he has been taken aback by the scale and speed of the overhaul. “I didn’t expect a transfer window like we have done,” he said. He still sees room for one more arrival “in one specific position”, but that hinges on who leaves in the final days.
Dinner, alignment and a “crazy” market
Tottenham’s hierarchy are clearly locked into the same conversation. On Thursday night, De Zerbi sat down to dinner with the owners, Lange and chief executive Vinai Venkatesham. It was part strategy meeting, part show of unity.
“We spoke about this,” he said. “All of us are on the same page and a very good connection.” In a window where prices spike overnight and plans can unravel in an hour, that alignment matters.
The message to the squad has been equally blunt. De Zerbi has told every player exactly where they stand. Those who pushed to leave have already gone. Those still thinking about it know the conditions.
“If you speak clearly, you can’t expect surprises,” he said. “We maybe have some players who want to leave, and they are waiting; we are waiting for an offer. You have to feel proud to stay here. It’s an emotional project we are building with new players.”
One of the names in the spotlight is Pape Matar Sarr. The midfielder is fit — “Pape is good,” De Zerbi confirmed — but his future is not nailed down. Spurs will “see in the last days of the transfer market what can happen with him.” Any late bid will test both the player’s ambitions and the club’s resolve.
Maddison pain, Kudus hope
On the pitch, the biggest concern has been James Maddison. The playmaker fractured his shoulder in the 3-0 defeat at Brentford on the opening weekend, a jarring blow to Tottenham’s creative core.
De Zerbi, though, offered a dose of optimism. “James Maddison has not a big problem,” he said. “Just pain in his left shoulder. He’s working, but I don’t know if he’s available for tomorrow.” The decision will go to the wire, but the long-term outlook is far less bleak than first feared.
Mohammed Kudus could also come into the equation against Newcastle. De Zerbi suggested the attacker may be available for selection, another potential weapon as Spurs look to steady themselves after that bruising start at the Gtech Community Stadium.
So Tottenham head into the weekend with a squad still in motion, a manager demanding emotional buy‑in, and a boardroom ready to act if the right late offer lands on the table. The window closes on Tuesday night. By then, we will know who truly feels proud to stay — and who chose to walk away from De Zerbi’s project.
