'Want to see it again': Roberto De Zerbi reveals the Tottenham manager he wishes to emulate | OneFootball

Italian faces tricky task to keep struggling Spurs in Premier League

De Zerbi arrived at Spurs last week, tasked with keeping the north London club in the Premier League.

But having signed a five-year deal, the Italian’s ambitions for the club are supposedly grander than saving Spurs from the embarrassment of relegation to the Championship.

His focus, for now, he admits, is to restore belief in a group of players, winless in the league in 2026, who just last season lifted the Europa League.

Yet, having pledged to stay at the club “no matter what” next season, he wants to eventually get Spurs playing with the same attacking freedom that they embodied throughout Postecoglu’s reign.

“I want to keep the ball,” De Zerbi said.

“I want to see again the Tottenham I watched with Postecoglou, because in my second season in Brighton, he was here with a lot of these players.

“It was one of the best teams in terms of quality of play. With Pedro Porro, with [Destiny] Udogie, [Micky] Van de Ven, [Cristian] Romero. I would like to see it again.”

De Zerbi’s appointment is considered a coup for Spurs, given where they find themselves in the league with just seven games to play.

De Zerbi, on the other hand, is risking his reputation on a squad that have already gone through two managers and look devoid of any answers to the club’s perilous situation.

There have therefore been suggestions that De Zerbi has negotiated a more than favourable pay package to take over the club so close to the end of the season.

These claims, the new boss asserts, are baseless and he says history shows money has never been a motivating factor for him in his managerial career.

“No, you can find the right answer in my history, because I left a lot of money in my life,” De Zerbi continued.

“The money never changed my focus on my work.

“I was in Marseille. For me, Marseille was a special place.

“I didn't say goodbye yet to my former fans, my former club, because I didn't want to make any polemic. And in that moment, it was good to stay at home.

“For me, it's not a problem, this situation for Tottenham. When you come in this club, you have not to decide depending on the situation in that moment. You have to have a longer vision.

“Normally now, the focus is on this season, these seven games, to keep [them in] the Premier League. Then we will see.”