Roberto De Zerbi set the tone after a difficult 2025\u201326 campaign, telling reporters: “Now we have to move on and to prepare the future of our club.\u201d That phrase now reads like a mandate. De Zerbi stabilised a squad that had been destabilised after a brief Igor Tudor era and kept Spurs in the Premier League, and the hierarchy has moved quickly to supply him with the midfield reinforcements he demanded.<\/p>\n
Years of tight transfer discipline under Daniel Levy have given way to a much more expansive approach since ENIC\u2019s recent injections of \u00a3235 million ($314 million) in 18 months. The club supplemented free-agent additions Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi with Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton & Hove Albion, a transfer that Levy, via Simon Jordan, said had \u201cpulled Tottenham\u2019s trousers down\u201d by prompting the club to spend \u00a352 million ($70 million) on a centre back entering the final year of his contract. Back in 2019 Levy believed Spurs would become \u201cone of the biggest clubs in the world.\u201d The current window suggests the new regime is prepared to act in pursuit of that ambition.<\/p>\n
Coming off a season that flirted with relegation, Spurs appear determined to avoid previous patterns of settling for second-best. Sandro Tonali arrived despite interest from Manchester City and Arsenal, while Mateus Fernandes had suitors including Manchester United and Real Madrid. Those rivalries for recruits underline the scale of Tottenham\u2019s change in posture: the club is now willing to meet competition with decisive offers, including payments to Newcastle and West Ham United to close deals.<\/p>\n
De Zerbi has prioritised midfield balance. Tonali and Fernandes are capable of operating as a No. 6 or No. 8. Fernandes is described as providing tenacity, press-resistance and an ambitious passing range and is likely to act as Spurs\u2019 build-up orchestrator. Tonali, who has a personal connection to the manager, brings intensity and engine. De Zerbi will demand active involvement from both players; the signings aim to have the pair ready for the start of the 2026\/27 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tonali and Fernandes signings show Tottenham have widened spending remit after survival. A new era..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1669,172],"tags":[983,1162,220],"class_list":["post-16561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-london-football","category-epl","tag-agents","tag-analytics","tag-andy-robertson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}