Despite a vigorous fan backlash against the very idea, according to the Times of London’s Tom Allnutt, Tottenham Hotspur has reached a full agreement with former Brighton and Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi to become Spurs’ next permanent manager.
As previously reported, De Zerbi will join the club immediately on a five year (and change) deal. He will join the club the middle of next week when players are due to begin returning from international duty, giving him a week and a half to train with
his team before Spurs travel to Sunderland to play on April 10. This comes after Spurs announced on Sunday that Igor Tudor had mutually agreed to leave the club after a disastrous 43 day tenure where he picked up only one point out of seven matches in charge.
There is a huge bonus built into his contract should De Zerbi manage to save Tottenham from relegation in what’s left of the Premier League season. Allnutt says that Spurs were “reluctant” to include a break clause in the contract, and it’s not clear, yet, if one exists in the final agreement or not.
The announcement, expected to come in the next day, comes despite a pronounced fan backlash over De Zerbi’s appointment, driven by his tempestuous and combative reputation and penchant for falling out with players and club hierarchies, and also his public defense of Mason Greenwood, who was credibly accused of rape and sexual assault, and whom Marseille controversially signed in 2024. The club was surely aware of the fan response to this possibility yesterday and notably CEO Vinai Venkatesham and Sporting Director Johan Lange have ignored it.
You do not have to like this appointment. I certainly don’t. And each individual Tottenham fan will need to make a decision over what they want to do with their Spurs fandom in the wake of this appointment. I will say again that appointing De Zerbi is not just tone deaf, but an active slap in the face by the club hierarchy to Tottenham Hotspur fans who are victims, or close to victims, of rape and sexual assault.
We know how this is going to end. De Zerbi has never lasted longer than two years as manager at any club. In that way, this is a lot like the tenure of Antonio Conte, except this Italian manager has never actually won anything. Expect a short and tempestuous tenure, a public falling out, a sacking or “mutual termination” likely with a large severance payout, and another managerial merry-go-round within a year to 18 months. You can also expect a LOT of disaffected Spurs fans, some of which will leave the club for good over this appointment.
Welcome to the Roberto De Zerbi era at Tottenham. I hate it here.
