De Zerbi told to banish 205-game Tottenham duo ‘for all manner of reasons’ | OneFootball

Tottenham insider John Wenham has suggested that new boss Roberto De Zerbi should rid the club of two players he has an interesting connection with.

Spurs have had a woeful season, which has them teetering just above the Premier League relegation zone. They find themselves just a point above the drop zone, now on their third manager of the season, with De Zerbi following Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor.

Engineering survival will be the Italian’s main task, and once that’s complete, there will be big decisions to make on a clearly underwhelming squad.

Tottenham insider Wenham has told the boss which two players need to go first.

He told Tottenham News: “It’s interesting, the two Italian players in the squad, being an Italian in De Zerbi, are still two that I think should be moved on this summer.

“[Guglielmo] Vicario, just for all manner of reasons, and [Destiny] Udogie, he’s a very good player, but he cannot stay fit; he’s just too unreliable.

“I think he needs to be moved on this summer and a permanent left-back secured, and it’s a shame, because in the first season, there was a reason why he was linked to Man City for £80m.

“He had every technical attribute you’d want in a modern-day full-back, he was quick, he was aggressive, he could transition the ball forward, but unfortunately, if you can only do that 30 per cent of the season, you’re not fit for purpose.”

De Zerbi likes Italian players

Neither man has been up to scratch this season, but whether De Zerbi does move them on remains to be seen, as the Italian boss is fond of using players from his home country.

Of the five players who have played under him most often during his managerial career, four are Italian.

Those are: goalkeeper Andrea Consigli, winger Domenico Berardi, midfielder Manuel Locatelli and centre-back Gian Marco Ferrari.

There seem multiple reasons why Vicario, at least, will not be at Tottenham next season, though.

In February, TEAMtalk learned that Spurs were intensifying their search for a new keeper, as they’d decided to part company with Vicario.

Lens’ Robin Risser was mentioned by sources as one of the players Tottenham were looking to sign. It’s also been suggested in recent reports that De Zerbi wants to reunite with midfield man Locatelli, one of his most-used players from his time in Italy.

Tottenham round-up: Romero’s father gives departure insight

The father of Tottenham centre-back Cristian Romero has seemingly told interested sides what it would take to land the Argentine.

He said: “The English club isn’t going to let him go for free; it’s between $50-70m [£37.8m-£53m]. For me, they’ll want to recover what they invested.”

Elsewhere, there have reportedly been “rave reviews” on De Zerbi’s first session at Tottenham, with the Italian having a “big impact” on his players immediately.

And, and a report has detailed how the boss wants to raid former club Sassuolo for defender Tarik Muharemovic.