Tottenham Hotspur are in New Zealand for their preseason tour, getting ready to play a managerless Auckland FC team that’s in its offseason, the first leg of a three match stint in NZ and Australia. The trip has already been eventful — the North Island experienced a 5.9 magnitude earthquake that thankfully was both far from the team’s training center and that only caused minor damage.
This match also gave an opportunity for Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi to hold a press conference, his first big
one since the end of last season. In his remarks, he talked about the importance of preseason fixtures to set the standard of what he wants to achieve this season, offensive reinforcements in the transfer window, and the future of players, including Lucas Bergvall.
Let’s start with Lucas, since the young Swede has seemingly been a simmering cauldron of discontent since he reported for the World Cup. There have been numerous stories about Bergvall wanting to leave Spurs in pursuit of regular first team football, something that might be in short supply for him at Tottenham this season. De Zerbi admitted that he has yet to hold talks about Bergvall’s future with the player, but that he plans to do so next week and the outcome of those talks will determine whether Bergvall stays or is sold this summer.
“Listen, I was very clear at the start of my time in Tottenham. I said ‘Who doesn’t want to stay in Tottenham, who is not happy, is not proud to stay here, has to leave’. I want proud players who are happy to stay here and to go on the pitch at Tottenham Stadium with a big motivation. If you think also in the World Cup, the motivation makes the difference. The motivation is to be happy to stay in one team.
“I have not spoken with Lucas yet, I will in the next days. And we will make the best decision for the club, for Lucas, for me, for every one of us. Without problems, Lucas is a big, big talent. There will be a big competition to play because at the end I think we will be two players for each position. If he wants to stay, I will be happy. Otherwise, we have to find a new solution with Johan Lange, with Vinai (Venkatesham). It’s not my business after the decision to leave (if that happens).”
That’s not exactly the most hopeful of statements, and suggests that if Lucas is set on leaving that he’ll be allowed to go. The winds are certainly blowing that direction, but we’ll have to wait to see if bridges can be mended by the end of this tour.
De Zerbi was also asked about the absences of Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur, both of whom missed the tour. De Zerbi said both had minor issues and asked for, and were granted, an extra week before reporting for training.
“Bentancur is a crucial player for us, and Pape Sarr, the same. I spoke after the World Cup with players and for every one of them we take different ways. Bentancur asked me for one week more because he suffered a very tough season last season, and Pape Sarr has a personal problem, and he asked me for one week more. But nothing, no problem, nothing more than I said.”
Questions were also asked about Mohammed Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski, both important offensive players for Spurs who have been missing for an extended period due to injury. Kudus was hopeful of a return near the end of last season, but suffered a setback in his recovery. Kulusevski has not played competitive football for over a year after a serious patella injury in 2024-25.
“Kudus is very close, I think. When we come back to London, he will be available to start to work with us. It is a great thing for us. Because Kudus is another important player. And Kulusevski, we have to see in the next couple of weeks. He is another important player. But after one season, one complete season, without games, we have to analyse better and better and don’t take risks for sure. First of all, for him, and then for us.”
Spurs have spent an incredible amount of money already this summer as they refresh the squad following back to back 17th place league finishes and a near relegation last season. But despite bringing in six first team player already this summer, De Zerbi says the club is not done, and is looking to bring in ideally another two players in the attacking band.
“First of all I think it’s not finished yet our transfer market window. We have to finish, we have to bring another couple, maybe more, maybe not less, but a couple of players. I’m very happy, I’m excited to work with the new players, with the old players.
“I think we are working very well with Johan [Lange] and Vinai [Venkatesham]. We are working with a clear idea. We brought players with a great experience like [Andrew Robertson].
“I think we need this type of players because we need to increase experience, we have to improve in mentality. We have to be stronger because in the last two seasons we didn’t do what Tottenham has to do. At the end of the transfer market we will make the point to close the transfer market session. But at the moment I’m very excited.”
Time zones are weird, and Tottenham kicks off against Auckland FC on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. local time. That’s Saturday at 11:00 p.m. if you live in Eastern Time, and 4:00 a.m. Sunday in the UK. Assuming you can get the start time correct wherever you’re trying to view it, you can watch the match on SpursPLAY, Tottenham’s in-house subscription video platform. I am not aware of any other viewing option at this time.
