Tottenham insider calls out leadership trio with new signing De Zerbi’s ‘perfect’ captain | OneFootball

Tottenham insider John Wenham feels none of last season’s leadership group should be captain under Roberto De Zerbi, with a new signing the “perfect” option.

Spurs have finished 17th in the past two Premier League seasons and look to be making progress away from that. They’ve splashed nearly £230million this summer and the defence and midfield have been transformed.

Should they land one or two new forwards, they would look a competitive side once again.

But the scars from the last two seasons are evident and as a result, Wenham doesn’t want anybody who was in a leadership position last season doing it again.

He told Tottenham News: “Tottenham are moving in a different direction, my points I’ve made on Twitter [X] over the last couple of weeks about the next Tottenham captain have also caused some pushback.

“A lot of Tottenham fans are thinking that James Maddison, Pedro Porro or Micky van de Ven should be the captain.

“This is a totally new Tottenham and I really don’t want anyone that was part of a leadership group previously that oversaw back-to-back 17th place finishes, leading this new Tottenham moving forward.”

New signings best placed to lead

Indeed, Wenham wants one of the club’s new signings to take the role.

“I’m not saying they shouldn’t play, I think they’re all good players, but I just think we need a new leader at the club and I just think Van Hecke would be perfect being somebody that De Zerbi has worked with before as captain and obviously when Lewis Dunk was out last season, obviously knows [Xavi] Simons, knows the manager, knows Van de Ven from the national team,” he said.

“The alternative is that you could bring in Tonali and make him the captain. I just think Tottenham need an entirely new identity and I think that comes down to the captain as well.

“I don’t believe when people say they’ve got to be at the club for X number of years, no, what’s gone on before is not acceptable and what’s going on moving forward has to be a totally new Tottenham.”

It does not seem a bad thing for a fresh start and a new player to lead the club, not having endured the woeful seasons of late. Andy Robertson would be another good option from a new player standpoint, having won the league and been a senior player at Liverpool.

However, somebody who was at the club last season will be motivated to ensure they aren’t in the same plight this season, and their passion for the club could stand them in better stead than a new signing.