Tottenham masterclass as stunning compromise in Roberto De Zerbi terms revealed | OneFootball

Tottenham have announced Roberto De Zerbi has been hired as their new permanent manager, and a senior BBC reporter has shed light on the stunning details within the monster deal.

Our insider, Graeme Bailey, brought news back on Monday morning of Roberto De Zerbi agreeing to become the new Tottenham boss.

A handful of details were still to be ironed out, but barring a miraculous late U-turn, the 46-year-old Italian joining Tottenham was a formality.

Those final wrinkles have now been addressed, with Spurs officially confirming on their website that De Zerbi has succeeded Igor Tudor.

A club statement began: ‘We are pleased to announce the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi as our new Men’s Head Coach on a long-term contract, subject to work permit.’

Tottenham considered Marco Silva for the role, as well as Mauricio Pochettino. However, neither were readily available given their commitments with Fulham and the USMNT respectively, but that didn’t matter anyway.

De Zerbi was Spurs’ undisputed first choice and after a series of discussions and compromises, Tottenham convinced the former Brighton and Marseille boss to take charge with immediate effect. Originally, De Zerbi wanted to assume control in the summer.

To sway De Zerbi’s mind, Tottenham have agreed to a five-year contract and a sky high salary. While the exact figure is still to be verified, it’s been confirmed De Zerbi is now the third highest paid manager in the Premier League behind only Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta. For context, Arteta earns around £15m per season at Arsenal.

Furthermore, we understand De Zerbi is in line to earn a significant ‘survival bonus’ if he keeps Tottenham in the top flight over the coming months.

There had been talk of relegation clauses, which would either allow De Zerbi to walk away if Tottenham went down, or would force the Italian to accept a pay decrease if managing in the second tier.

But according to the BBC’s senior football correspondent, Sami Mokbel, there is NO relegation clause in the agreement.

Mokbel stated: ‘Even if Spurs are relegated, sources have told BBC Sport that the deal to take De Zerbi to Spurs does not include a clause that allows the Italian to walk away from the club if they are in the Championship next season.

‘It is understood De Zerbi is fully committed to rebuilding Tottenham and views the position as long term project regardless of which division they are playing in.’

Accordingly, and even if the unthinkable happens and Spurs do go down, they’re safe in the knowledge they’ll have one of world football’s leading coaches spearheading their attempts to bounce back up on the first attempt.

Mokbel also revealed Tottenham had initially tried to bring De Zerbi in in the aftermath of sacking Thomas Frank and prior to settling on Tudor.

He added: ‘De Zerbi was overwhelmingly the club’s number one choice for the position. The attraction to the Italian was based on his prior Premier League experience, his tactical acumen and the his reputation for playing attacking football.

‘The club tried to bring him to the club after Thomas Frank left, but it was deemed too soon given he left Marseille on the same day.

‘De Zerbi was viewed as the best option for the long term of the club and allows the club to plan for the summer transfer window, and he has time to experience working with the current options.

‘He was also viewed as the best option for short-term with no other highly-credible coach on the market now. There was also a view taken that it’s best for players not to have another interim.’

Finally, Mokbel rather cryptically stated on X that Tottenham did consider the Mason Greenwood ‘issue’ when moving for De Zerbi.

De Zerbi previously backed the forward – who he managed at Marseille – in public, and has been criticised for seemingly downplaying the seriousness of the allegations previously levied at Greenwood.

Per Mokbel, Tottenham did take that situation into account, but it obviously has not stopped the club from pushing the button on De Zerbi’s appointment.