Just ONE Tottenham star safe from brutal De Zerbi cull as Liverpool, Man City lurk | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur are preparing for a huge squad overhaul under Roberto De Zerbi this summer, and an observer thinks Archie Gray is the only star who is not ‘playing for his future’ in north London.

It has been a disastrous season for Tottenham, as Thomas Frank was sacked in February, and his interim replacement, Igor Tudor, left by mutual consent on March 29. Tudor was brought in to try and guide Tottenham away from the relegation zone, but things got worse under the Croatian.

Spurs sit 17th in the Premier League, just one point above the drop zone, and two points behind 16th-placed Nottingham Forest.

De Zerbi has seven matches to save their top-flight status, starting with a difficult trip to Sunderland on April 12.

The Italian was initially hesitant about taking over mid-season, but Spurs convinced him to join immediately and pen a five-year deal.

In an interview with Tottenham News, Spurs analyst John Wenham predicted big changes this summer.

“All the players are now playing for their future at the club,” he said.

“The only one that should be exempt from that is Archie Gray, because he’s performed exceptionally well while the rest of the players have really underperformed.

“It’s really interesting to see how they will react to that, and instead of them knowing that it’s another interim and the manager’s going anyway at the end of the season.

“It doesn’t matter how we perform, they now know they’re playing for their futures.”

Gray has been linked with Liverpool, but Spurs are unlikely to sell the versatile 20-year-old – unless they are relegated to the Championship.

Cristian Romero, Pedro Porro, Randal Kolo Muani and Guglielmo Vicario are just some of the players who could depart, regardless of which league Spurs end up in.

Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are all keen on Romero. Manchester City are long-term admirers of Porro, while loanee Randal Kolo Muani is expected to return to parent club Paris Saint-Germain.

It was claimed recently that Vicario has greenlit a move back to Serie A with Inter Milan.

Tottenham face huge transfer decisions

Micky van de Ven is among the players Spurs want to keep if they stay in the top flight, but we revealed on February 24 that he is picking up serious interest from Liverpool and Manchester United.

In addition to Gray and Van De Ven, Spurs should try to keep players such as Lucas Bergvall, Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence.

Then there is the trio of James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Mohammed Kudus. They are all top players on their day but have had long injury lay-offs, which has contributed to Spurs’ struggles.

Kulusevski’s injury is particularly concerning, as he has not played since May last year and has had multiple setbacks.