Tottenham appointed Roberto De Zerbi as the club’s third manager of the season on Tuesday as they battle to avoid relegation from English football’s top flight for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Former Brighton and Marseille boss De Zerbi has reportedly been handed a lucrative five-year deal to convince him to take the job immediately rather than waiting to see which division Spurs are in next season.
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Tottenham sit just one point outside the relegation zone with seven games of the Premier League season remaining.
De Zerbi replaces Igor Tudor, whose interim reign at the north London club lasted just seven games after Spurs crashed out of the Champions League and fell ever closer to dropping into the second tier.
“I am delighted to be joining this fantastic football club, which is one of the biggest and most prestigious in the world,” said De Zerbi in a Tottenham statement.
“I am here because I believe in that ambition and have signed a long-term contract to give everything to deliver it.
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“Our short-term priority is to climb the Premier League table, which will be the complete focus until the final whistle of the last game of the season.”
– ‘Number one target’ –
Spurs’ sporting director Johan Lange insisted De Zerbi — “one of the most creative and forward-thinking coaches in world football” — had always been the club’s first choice to take over on a full-time basis.
“Roberto was our number one target for the summer and we are very pleased to be able to bring him in now,” said Lange.
De Zerbi established a positive reputation for himself in England during a two-year spell as Brighton boss between 2022 and 2024.
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His time at Marseille also started well, with the club finishing second to Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 last season to qualify for the Champions League.
But he left the French club in February after failing to make it out of the Champions League league phase and following a humiliating 5-0 defeat by PSG.
Tottenham have not tasted life outside the top flight of English football since the 1977/78 season.
Despite boasting a new 63,000-capacity stadium, state-of-the-art training ground and revenues that make them among the top 10 richest clubs in world football, they are at severe risk of a humiliating relegation to the Championship.
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Just a few years ago they were Champions League regulars under former manager Mauricio Pochettino, reaching the final in 2019.
Last season they ended a 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League.
But the warning signs of a battle for survival were there as Ange Postecoglou was dismissed despite victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final after finishing 17th in the Premier League.
Thomas Frank was appointed as the Australian’s successor, but the Dane was sacked in February after a run of two wins in 17 league games and replaced by Tudor.
De Zerbi’s first match in charge will be away to Sunderland on April 12.
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However, his appointment has been far from universally approved by the Tottenham fanbase.
Some fan groups have raised objections to his support for Mason Greenwood during his time at Marseille.
Former England international Greenwood controversially signed for Marseille in July 2024 after a season on loan from Manchester United at Spanish club Getafe.
He was suspended by United in January 2022 following allegations of attempted rape and sexual assault.
Greenwood always denied the allegations and prosecutors dropped charges in February 2023.
But the Tottenham Supporters’ Trust responded to De Zerbi’s appointment by saying in a statement: “Any perceived sympathy toward alleged perpetrators of physical or sexual violence against women fundamentally undermines trust in the custodianship of this club.”
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