‘I Think He Can’ – Roberto De Zerbi Backs Spurs Star Amid Positional Change | OneFootball

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Roberto De Zerbi has pointed out that new boy Mateus Fernandes is a versatile player, but added that due to being young he needs time to become adjusted to his new club.

Fernandes joined West Ham United last summer from Southampton and made 36 appearances while laying on seven goal contributions for them but failed to help them stay up.

In order to strengthen midfield, Spurs targeted him in the summer and agreed to a £85m deal with the Hammers to sign Fernandes.

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It was suggested during the summer that Jose Mourinho likes the Portuguese international and wants to take him to Spain, but Tottenham managed to beat Real Madrid in the race to secure his signature.

Fernandes made his full Spurs debut in the Premier League last weekend against Newcastle United and despite his team suffering a defeat, De Zerbi thinks that the midfielder played well.

He pointed out that Fernandes is a versatile player, but he is deploying him in a number 10 role, which the 22-year-old is familiar with since his early days with Sporting Lisbon.

The Spurs boss also stressed that Fernandes, being a young player, needs time to get accustomed to his new environment and with his coaching style.

“I think Mateus Fernandes played a good game [against Newcastle]”, De Zerbi said at a press conference (10:52).

“He can play better.

“I think he can play in different positions; for example, at this moment I think Rodrigo Bentancur is very important for this team because he is the right player to give the balance to keep the order on the pitch.

“He has experience, so we try to play with Mateus in the number 10.

“He started his career as a number 10 and then last season played one of two midfielders.

“He is very young and I think also for him very important in this moment is that he is understanding a new club, a new coach and a new environment, so we have to give [him] time like Bergvall, Archie Gray and Savinho.”

Spurs have had a poor start to their Premier League campaign with two defeats in their first two games and are sitting bottom of the table.

The Tottenham hierarchy have backed De Zerbi in the market, bringing in a host of new signings and spending hefty fees and they will want to see an improvement to the situation in the coming games.