Tottenham confirm four new arrivals as busy summer overhaul continues | OneFootball

Roberto De Zerbi secures key reunion as Spurs continue revamp

Tottenham have announced the arrival of four new backroom staff members ahead of next season.

Roberto De Zerbi's former No2, Andrew Crofts, has joined from Brighton as an assistant coach, while Ali James (head of medical services), Tom Tombleson (head of athletic development) and Agostino Tibaudi (strength and conditioning coach) have been added to the club's performance department.

Crofts, who arrives shortly after first-team academy transition coach Stuart Lewis departed for Ipswich, was on the coaching staff during De Zerbi's time at Brighton and most recently served as an assistant coach to Fabian Hurzeler.

He is also part of Craig Bellamy's coaching set-up with Wales and looks set to continue in that role while taking up his position at Spurs.

Crofts joins Bruno Saltor (assistant coach), Andreas Georgson (assistant coach), Marcattilio Marcattilii (first-team fitness coach), Marcello Quinto (senior professional development phase coach), Cameron Campbell (individual development coach), Fabian Otte (goalkeeping coach) and Dean Brill (assistant goalkeeping coach).

The arrival of three new backroom staff members to Tottenham’s performance department marks another significant overhaul of the club's medical practices.

Spurs suffered a number of key long-term injuries last season as they narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship.

Reunion: Andrew Crofts previously worked closely with Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton

Getty

The club's injury issues have been a major problem for a number of years and they have now made sweeping changes in three successive summers to their medical team.

Spurs appointed Dan Lewindon as the club's performance director in October 2025, with the former director of player health and performance at the City Football Group responsible for medical, sports science, nutrition and psychology across Spurs' men’s, women’s and academy teams.

Lewindon led an internal investigation into the club's injury issues at the end of last season, and the arrivals of James, Tombleson and Tibaudi now mark yet another change to Spurs' medical set-up.

Changes are also taking place at Spurs' Hotspur Way training ground to overhaul the gym facilities, while a pod-based model has been implemented.

The pod-based model sees four to six players work closely with a physio and sports scientist, who concentrate on smaller groups, so  staff better understand the needs of the players and better decisions can be made about their fitness and rehabilitation.

Spurs returned for pre-season training two weeks ago, and will play their first friendly of the summer when they take on MK Dons in a behind-closed-doors game at Hotspur Way on Wednesday evening.