Roberto De Zerbi's Transfer Strategy: Targeting Savinho

Roberto De Zerbi is not hiding what he wants from this transfer window. He’s hunting.

“In the transfer market when I want one player I become like a shark, no chance to say no!” the Tottenham manager told Football London, a line that landed with the same force as his summer spending.

Spurs have already plunged deep into the market, the outlay climbing into serious territory, but De Zerbi insists this is only the middle act.

“The transfer market, it's not finished for sure, but we completed 60 per cent of our project in the transfer market. Now we have another bomba!” he said, eyes fixed on the next target.

Savinho, the next “bomba”

That “bomba” is widely expected to be Savinho. The Brazilian is understood to be pushing Manchester City to approve a move to north London, a switch that would add yet another high-end piece to an attacking department already swollen by the £85m arrival of Mateus Fernandes.

De Zerbi has been clear: this is not about stockpiling forwards, it is about finding the right ones for his system. His wingers, he says, must be built around his full-backs.

“A winger can be a very wide winger, one able to come inside, a winger without a full-back, a winger able to play with the full-back,” he explained, outlining a tactical jigsaw that starts in an unusual place. “We have four great full-backs at the moment, maybe the four most important full-backs in the world, because I think Pedro Porro is the best right-back in the world, with [Destiny] Udogie, [Andy] Robertson, and Djed Spence can play right and left.

“Before bringing in a winger, we have to consider the full-back, because we start from the full-back, from the player we already have, no?”

The message is blunt: Spurs will buy attackers, but only those who fit the aggressive, full-back-led blueprint he is constructing.

Asked if the next signing is close, he did not bother with theatrics. “I hope, but it's not finished for sure.”

Respecting Romero’s wish to go

While De Zerbi sharpens the squad at one end, a major figure is edging towards the exit at the other.

Cristian Romero, Tottenham’s captain and defensive talisman, wants a return to Serie A. Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio has already confirmed that talks are active over taking the 2026 World Cup finalist to San Siro, and De Zerbi has chosen not to stand in his way.

“Romero as a player is one of the best centre-backs in the world, but at the end I said I want to respect the will of the players,” De Zerbi said.

He revealed a pact made with his squad back in April, when the club were still fighting to stay afloat.

“I said: ‘Help me to stay up, and then I help you to leave’. If you don't help me to stay up, you stay underwater with me!”

Romero, he stressed, kept his side of the bargain.

“But Romero with me was unbelievable. Top. In his behaviour, his respect, he suffered when he did not play the last game. It is not true that he wanted to leave for Argentina to prepare for their World Cup. It's not true.”

The defence may be losing its leader, but De Zerbi is determined that the culture he is imposing does not walk out with him.

Harsh lessons, hard rules

If Romero’s departure is about respect, the message to the younger generation is about control.

Lucas Bergvall and Djed Spence, both drawing interest in a turbulent window, have been told in no uncertain terms what staying at Tottenham under De Zerbi actually means.

“If they stay, they have to stay following my rules, decisions on the pitch,” he warned. “After two games, three games, if one player is not playing and he starts to be sad or not correct with the other players, the coaches, staff, the club, we would make a big, big mistake because we didn't learn from the past season.”

No grey area. No passengers. The Italian is cutting out any hint of the drift that has haunted previous Spurs projects.

For now, his remodelled squad turns towards pre-season and a meeting with Chelsea on Saturday. The shark is still circling the market, the “bomba” is still to land, and Tottenham’s summer is nowhere near finished.