De Zerbi signs up with Tottenham to see it through – whatever happens
LONDON: Roberto De Zerbi has agreed to remain as Tottenham’s head coach even if the club are relegated. The Italian, who left Marseille in February, has signed a five-year contract. His immediate priority is to save the outgoing Europa League holders from relegation. They have not won this year and sit one point above the relegation bottom three with seven games left.
Spurs have not been relegated from the top flight since 1977 and it has been estimated that such a fate would cost the club £250m.
De Zerbi has a week and a half to prepare for his first game in charge, away to Sunderland on April 12. The 46-year-old former Brighton boss takes over from Igor Tudor who lasted only 44 days after succeeding the sacked Thomas Frank.
Tudor’s appointment was always doomed since he took over a crisis club without any previous experience of English football as player or coach. He arrived with minimal knowledge of the squad, selected some players out of position and changed tactics from game to game. However, dismissing him was complicated by the unhappy personal coincidence two weeks ago of the death of Tudor’s father.
De Zerbi was originally sounded out by Tottenham before the sacking of Ange Postecoglou last summer and again after the sacking of Frank. Each time hesitated. This time it is understood the promise of a significant bonus for avoiding relegation may have helped change his mind.
He said: “In all my discussions with the club’s leadership, their ambition for the future has been clear — to build a team capable of reaching great achievements, and to do that playing a style of football that excites and inspires our supporters. I am here because I believe in that ambition and have signed a long-term contract to give everything to deliver it.”
The appointment has been opposed by some Tottenham fans because of the way he had supported Mason Greenwood at Marseille. Greenwood had left Manchester United in 2024 under a cloud over allegations about his private life. He was never charged with any offence and De Zerbi had described him as a “good guy”.
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