Seven games to save Tottenham's season - De Zerbi becomes Spurs boss

Tottenham have appointed Roberto de Zerbi as their new head coach after the Italian signed a five-year contract with the club.

The former Brighton boss has seven games to save the club from relegation to the Championship.

If they do go down, he does not have a relegation clause that would allow him to walk away.

In two months' time, Spurs' third boss of the season will have either secured his place as a hero at the club, or be forever connected to one of the worst campaigns in their history.

He said: "I am delighted to be joining this fantastic football club, which is one of the biggest and most prestigious in the world.

"In all my discussions with the club's leadership, their ambition for the future has been clear - to build a team capable of reaching great achievements, and to do that playing a style of football that excites and inspires our supporters. I am here because I believe in that ambition and have signed a long-term contract to give everything to deliver it.

"Our short-term priority is to climb the Premier League table, which will be the complete focus until the final whistle of the last game of the season."

BBC Sport reported on Sunday that De Zerbi was the man Spurs wanted to replace Igor Tudor, who officially left the club by mutual consent over the weekend.

De Zerbi has been the overwhelming first choice to become the club's new permanent head coach given his prior Premier League experience, perceived tactical acumen and reputation for playing attacking football.

While De Zerbi was always open to taking the Spurs position, it is understood he initially showed a reluctance to accept the job before the end of the season.

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

However, the club still viewed De Zerbi as the best option for the long term of the club and his arrival now allows for planning around the summer transfer window.

He was also viewed as the best option for short-term amid a view within the club that there was no other highly credible coach on the market at this time - and a reluctance for another interim boss following Tudor's short reign.

Tottenham are 17th in the Premier League, just one point outside of the relegation zone and without a win in the competition in 2026.

Should they fail to beat the drop, it would go down as one of the league's most remarkable relegations.

Sporting director, Johan Lange, said: "Roberto was our number one target for the summer and we are very pleased to be able to bring him in now.

"He is one of the most creative and forward-thinking coaches in world football, and brings with him a wealth of experience at the highest level, including in the Premier League."

A number of Tottenham supporters' groups voiced their opposition to the prospect of appointing De Zerbi because of his support for former Manchester United striker Mason Greenwood.

Greenwood, 24, left Manchester United to join De Zerbi at Marseille in 2023 after charges against him, including attempted rape and assault, were dropped.

During his time in the south of France, De Zerbi described Greenwood as a "good guy" who had paid a "heavy price" for his past.

After guiding Brighton to European qualification during his stint in the Premier League between 2022 and 2024, De Zerbi took Marseille to second in Ligue 1 last season before leaving in February.

The Italian's first match as Tottenham boss will be a trip to Sunderland on 12 April, followed six days later by a home game against his former club Brighton. Their remaining fixtures are home matches against Leeds and Everton, and trips to Wolves, Aston Villa and Chelsea.

"He will be having his own way - he's quite a character," former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"He's a very outspoken manger. He's a manager in a similar way to Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte that Tottenham have had in the past."

It is well documented that De Zerbi's footballing DNA traces back to the Pep Guardiola tradition, but to leave it there would be restrictive. He has taken the principles - positional play, pressing triggers, control through the ball - and built his own beliefs around them

There are a number of reasons why this appointment could work.

First, De Zerbi doesn't care what people think. He has a clear, unshakeable idea of how he wants to play football and at a club as chaotic as Tottenham right now, that kind of certainty is invaluable.

He has also never managed a club with no expectations and has always delivered under pressure. He knows what it means to have concrete targets and he knows how to meet them.

He brings the added benefit of knowing the Premier League and the timing of the likely appointment gives him scope for preparation. Spurs don't play again until 12 April and that gives him precious time to assess his squad.

Arriving during the international break would give De Zerbi precious days to begin assessing his squad.

The big concern here, though, is less about De Zerbi himself and more about whether those around him will have the discipline to align with his vision.

When that alignment has broken down in De Zerbi's career - when ownership or a director of football has pulled in a different direction - the project has quickly unravelled.

That is precisely what happened at Marseille. The football was often compelling, the city was behind him, but at decision-making level the relationship could not be sustained.

Tottenham have had their own well-documented structural difficulties. If De Zerbi is to thrive, the football operations around him must be stable, communicative and genuinely aligned to his way of working.

That is not a small ask for a club in the midst of a relegation battle.

Marseille fans felt both relief and regret when De Zerbi left midway through his second season.

Relief because the final weeks were desperately poor, but regret too because De Zerbi - a former ultra with immense passion - looked at times a perfect fit for the Mediterranean club.

His first year was promising: Marseille finished as runners-up and returned to the Champions League. A raft of new signings raised hopes, especially after a first home win over Paris St-Germain in 14 years and a six-goal rout of Le Havre sent them top.

Yet there was always a sense Marseille were just a couple of defeats from crisis. The squad almost imploded when Jonathan Rowe and Adrien Rabiot clashed in the dressing room, and De Zerbi's uncompromising style alienated certain players.

He infuriated observers by constantly changing systems and selections, leaving players bamboozled.

For the most part, De Zerbi lined up in a 4-2-3-1 and fans occasionally saw glimpses of the front-footed, attacking style he wanted to implement.

Yet Marseille's midfield pairing - usually Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Geoffrey Kondogbia - lacked the technical skills and mobility to perform in that system against stronger opposition. The defence would be left exposed, while the attack relied too heavily on individual exploits from Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

When a flagging Marseille crashed out of the Champions League, losing 3-0 in Bruges, reports emerged De Zerbi had lost the dressing room. A pitiful 5-0 defeat at PSG - the heaviest in Classique history - made his exit inevitable.

De Zerbi left with the highest win percentage of any Marseille coach this century (57%). That Igor Tudor (56%) ranks second suggests Spurs fans should treat that statistic with caution.

De Zerbi will only have one priority at Tottenham Hotspur: keeping them in the Premier League.

The peril of Spurs' position was why the highly regarded Italian was initially reluctant to take over so late in the season, with the club's future still uncertain as they contemplate the real possibility of dropping into the Championship.

How would De Zerbi view his future if Spurs do not escape? It would not be down to him, but he certainly does not regard himself as a coach who operates in the second tier.

Given Spurs' status and ambitions, relegation is as unpalatable as it gets. Championship football at the magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would be nothing short of total humiliation.

De Zerbi's firecracker personality, as well as an ability as a coach that has won him widespread admiration from peers such as Pep Guardiola, must inject life into a squad decimated by injuries and stripped of every vestige of confidence.

He has to turn losers into winners. Instantly.

And he has to start at Sunderland in Spurs' next Premier League game.

De Zerbi is fiercely competitive and must transmit that into his players; easier said than done given the timid, defeatist nature of their performances this season.

He would have preferred to start afresh next season - and maybe somewhere else if Spurs are a Championship club - but he is confident, talented and brimming with self-belief.