De Zerbi’s First Look at Tottenham’s £200m Rebuild

Tottenham’s £200m rebuild steps out of the shadows on Wednesday evening, with Roberto De Zerbi finally getting a first live look at his new project.

No cameras. No crowd. Just Spurs, MK Dons and a manager quietly taking notes at Hotspur Way.

De Zerbi’s first look at the new Tottenham

Two weeks of training have laid the groundwork, but this behind-closed-doors friendly is De Zerbi’s first chance to see how his ideas translate when the opposition wears a different shirt.

Tottenham have torn into the summer window, spending more than £200million on six new signings. Now comes the first glimpse of how they might fit.

Midfield pair Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes are both in line to feature, the headline attractions in what is effectively a controlled experiment rather than a spectacle. Tonali’s minutes are expected to be carefully managed after he joined pre-season late because of work permit issues, yet even a short outing will draw sharp focus. Fernandes, younger and fresher in the legs, could see more time as De Zerbi starts to shape his engine room.

Martin Dubravka has also been working with the squad at Hotspur Way, another fresh face easing into a new dressing room. Whether he starts or rotates in later, the theme is the same: De Zerbi wants eyes on everyone.

World Cup absentees and a new face at left-back

Not everyone is available. Those who went deep into the summer World Cup are still on extended breaks and will not feature.

Pedro Porro, who started for Spain in Sunday’s 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina in the final, is among those resting. So too Cristian Romero and Marcos Senesi, both coming off intense international summers and granted extra recovery time.

Djed Spence, a standout as England finished third, also sits this one out. His resurgence will have to wait for a different stage.

One notable arrival did step through the doors this week. Scotland captain Andy Robertson reported for his first day as a Spurs player on Tuesday after joining on a free transfer from Liverpool. He will not be involved against MK Dons but his presence at Hotspur Way underlines the scale of the rebuild: a serial winner now tasked with helping to drag Tottenham into a new era.

Injury returns on their own timelines

Several key names are visible around the training ground yet still some distance from competitive action.

Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert, both recovering from serious anterior cruciate ligament injuries, have been pictured back at Hotspur Way but remain on individual programmes. Their return is a long game, not a pre-season rush.

Mohammed Kudus is in the same category. The forward continues his rehabilitation from a major quad injury, working away from the main group as he edges back towards full fitness.

Dejan Kulusevski, who did not play a single minute last season because of a persistent knee problem, is also following a separate plan. His absence across the entire previous campaign still hangs over the squad; Spurs will not risk shortcuts now.

Academy auditions: Moore and Donley in the spotlight

With senior players missing and others being eased in, the door opens for the academy.

Mikey Moore has been training with the first team and could be handed minutes against MK Dons. Fresh from an eye-catching loan spell at Rangers, the forward remains one of the most coveted talents in the system. De Zerbi has not yet decided whether Moore belongs in his first-team plans this season. Wednesday’s run-out may tell him plenty.

Jamie Donley is another youngster making a strong impression. The academy forward has been involved with the senior group and is understood to have caught De Zerbi’s eye over the last fortnight. A low-key friendly at Hotspur Way is exactly the kind of stage where a manager’s mind can be changed.

Rotation, experiments and an early blueprint

This is pre-season, and it will look like it. De Zerbi is expected to rotate heavily, handing minutes to as many players as possible to build fitness and test combinations. The scoreline will be secondary; the data, the chemistry and the decision-making will matter more.

Even so, there is a rough outline of what the first XI might resemble. One projected line-up has Spurs starting with Kinsky in goal behind a back line of Takai, Phillips, Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie. Fernandes and Tonali could anchor midfield, with Yang and Donley supporting a front pairing of Mathys Tel and Dominic Solanke.

Kick-off is set for 5pm BST on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at Hotspur Way. No crowd, no noise, just the sound of a squad being weighed and measured.

For De Zerbi, it is only a first friendly. For several players fighting for a place in his plans, it might already feel like something far bigger.