De Zerbi promises new transfer ‘bombshell’ at Tottenham, but identity of potential signing remains a mystery

Roberto De Zerbi claims Tottenham are on the brink of signing a « bombshell » and have assumed it will be an attacking player.

Spurs have already spent almost £230m this summer on Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Heke, as well as bringing in free agents Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi on high wages to bolster a squad limping towards back-to-back Finished 17th in the Premier League.

Last season’s narrow escape seems to have changed the mindset in North London and the board have provided plenty of support for De Zerby, with the Italian claiming the spending spree is far from over.

Speaking about the pre-season tour of Australia – Spurs face Chelsea in Sydney on Saturday – he said: « The transfer market is not finished for sure, but we have completed 60% of our project. Now we have another bombshell. »

After confirming that the player in question was a striker and not Savinho’s long-standing target, he added: « I don’t like to work with plan A, plan B, plan C. This is plan A, period, because all players are not the same. We have to increase the number of goals. »

De Zerbi did not want to reveal the identity of the target, but the likes of the former Barcelona loanee Marcus RashfordRafael Leao and Cody Gakpo have been linked with the club in recent weeks.

Romero’s « will » to leave Tottenham

As well as players coming in, there is also expected to be plenty of movement the other way, with Lucas Bergwall likely to leave along with captain Christian Romero, while the future of England full-back Jed Spence remains uncertain.

Spence’s stock has risen after an excellent World Cup and he has been linked with Everton and Inter Milan.

De Zerby has previously said he will only work with players who want to be at Tottenham and repeated that message again, adding: « I repeat what I said to Jed and Lucas. I would like you to stay, if you want to stay. If you don’t want to stay, if you want to leave, then you have to leave. »

Romero seems certain to move on. The Argentine defender has attracted plenty of criticism during his time at Spurs, but De Zerbi says Romero has shown « incredible behaviour » since joining the club in March, but his « will » is to leave.

« At the beginning of my time in April, I had, I don’t know, a million one-on-one meetings. And the players told me if they were (staying) here (or not), » he said.

« I said, Yes, help me stay and then I’ll help you leave. If you don’t help me stay, you’ll stay underwater with me. »