Tottenham are confident they can put last season’s troubles behind them and challenge towards the top of the Premier League table next term. Roberto De Zerbi’s side have been ambitious in the transfer market and are looking to add Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes to their midfield before the new season starts.
There is expected to be more upheaval over the next few months, with Cristian Romero and Guglielmo Vicario rumoured to be leaving the club, and De Zerbi has plenty of decisions to make come August. With Spurs set to embark on a new era under De Zerbi, Standard Sport takes a look at three decisions the Italian must get right next season.
Select the Right Captain
Leadership, or a lack thereof, was a massive issue for Spurs last season, as Romero routinely neglected his responsibilities as captain. The Argentine centre-half has never been shy to speak his opinion, and on more than one occasion last season, his social media outbursts against the club’s board added fuel to the fire of an increasingly toxic situation.
Whether you believe him to be right or wrong, Romero’s comments were misguided, and when that lack of emotional control bled into his performances, with reckless dismissals against Liverpool and Manchester United, he was left with nowhere to turn. Romero time and again let his team-mates down last season, so with his future in doubt, De Zerbi may be a touch relieved he can bestow the captaincy on someone else next term.
Spurs are not blessed with leaders, hence their push to add experience so far in the transfer market, and so De Zerbi must be careful in his selection. Micky van de Ven is the likely candidate to take over from Romero, but he did not cover himself in glory when given the captaincy in Romero’s absence last season. De Zerbi did, however, manage to get Van de Ven on side in the final weeks of the season. If he can convince the Dutch centre-half to stay, then he feels like the most suitable option.
Give Youth a Chance
De Zerbi had good reason to opt for experience over youth in the final seven games of last season, with Spurs’ Premier League survival very much in the balance. Now, though, the Italian would be wise to show a bit more flexibility in his approach by leaning on some of the young talent available to him.
With Lucas Bergvall keen to leave Spurs in search of more opportunities and Luka Vuskovic also prepared to hand in a transfer request, Spurs seem braced to lose two of their brightest young players this summer. On paper, Spurs are set to get good money for the pair, but De Zerbi needs to be mindful not to shut off the pathway for young players to the first team.
Losing Bergvall and Vuskovic would send out a message about how Spurs view young players under De Zerbi and could potentially lead to a drain of talent from the club’s academy. Will Lankshear and Alfie Devine are among those from the academy who are attracting interest this summer. The pair enjoyed impressive loan spells in the EFL last season and should at least be given pre-season to prove to De Zerbi they can offer him something.
It would be naive to suggest that every young player will make it at Spurs, but the club still have to be shown to be offering opportunities. First-team exposure was why a teenage Bergvall turned down Barcelona to join Spurs in 2024. If he has lost faith in that pathway, what message does that send?
Get a Handle on Spurs’ Injury Issues
Perhaps the single biggest issue at Spurs last season was their crippling injury list. Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and De Zerbi all bemoaned the fact that they were constantly without their best players, and at one point last season, Spurs were able to name a full starting XI of injured stars. If this new era is genuinely to remove itself from the mistakes of the past, then overhauling how the club approaches injuries and rehabilitation has to be a major priority.
Changes to the facilities at the club’s Hotspur Way training ground this summer constitute a promising start, with Standard Sport understanding that the gym facilities in particular are widely acknowledged to be far below the standards of other top Premier League teams. But the real litmus test will come in how quickly they are able to get Dejan Kulusevski and Mohammed Kudus back to full fitness.
Kulusevski has not played a competitive minute since April 2025 after suffering a complicated knee injury. There is no fixed return date for the Swedish playmaker, yet there would undoubtedly be plenty of concern if he were not available in the first half of next season. Kudus, meanwhile, has yet to play under De Zerbi after suffering a setback in his recovery from a serious quad injury. De Zerbi admitted at the time that the club had pushed Kudus too hard to return to fitness, extinguishing his World Cup dreams and leaving him to weigh up whether he needed surgery. Kudus can be a key player for De Zerbi, so Spurs must do all they can to ensure he returns in the right shape.
