EXCLUSIVE: The change Tottenham have made to secure £237m deals as next summer priority revealed
Roberto De Zerbi has had a huge impact on Tottenham already and Jermaine Jenas believes the club have made big changes behind the scenes to impact transfer activity
Jermaine Jenas believes Tottenham Hotspur have rightly ripped up their wage structure in order to improve the squad in the transfer window this summer. Spurs have so far added six senior players to the squad for Roberto De Zerbi, spending £237million in the process.
Sandro Tonali arrived from Newcastle and will become the north London club's first £100million player if the £7.5million in add-ons are activated on top of the £92.5million fee paid to the Magpies. Mateus Fernandes cost £85million from West Ham to give De Zerbi two midfielders with great quality and Premier League experience for the new season.
Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka arrived on free transfers, while Jan Paul van Hecke was signed from Brighton in a deal worth £52million. Cole Ramsey also joined from Aston Villa on a free transfer but is expected to play for the Under-21s.
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Jenas believes these deals showcase positive change at Spurs and referenced non-executive chairman Peter Charrington's letter to supporters in May where he admitted the club had "fallen short" in previous years and subsequently promised heavy investment so the club can " compete at the highest levels of Premier League and European football".
Speaking to football.london on behalf of 10bet, the home of football betting, Jenas said: "The chairman released a statement at the end of last season (about Tottenham’s ambition going forward), which I think a lot of people were questioning. It felt a little bit like he was throwing all of the blame onto Daniel Levy and his tenure at the football club, and that things were going to be different moving forward.
"I think it was a good statement for the fans to see because it kind of pinned them into a corner. They had to go and do something, and it turns out by a lot of the signings that they have made so far that they're putting their money where their mouth is – I think it's about time."
The former Tottenham midfielder believes the signings of Fernandes and Tonali are huge for the club given both players would have had offers to go elsewhere.
"The thing that stands out to me with a lot of this is, in particular for the Fernandes and Tonali deals, they would have been courted as well," Jenas said. "A lot of clubs would have wanted both of them. The only thing I can think of that has made them go to Tottenham, who finished 17th in two consecutive seasons, is that there must have been a shift in the wage structure somewhere to make this happen with all the business that they've done.
"Granted, London clubs are always a little bit more attractive. They're a bit more of a draw for the foreign players because it helps with family and so on.
"With Tonali and Fernandes, I think what's going to be spoken about is the amount of money, number one. But when you do deals with Senesi and Robertson on free transfers, it just shows there's a nice balance there of youth, experience, and money being spent."
With seven players (including Ramsey) through the door already, Spurs are not expected to stop there. A number of players are expected to leave in the coming weeks but Jenas believes the Lilywhites still need to sign a new striker.
He added: "I still feel like they need something up top, if I'm honest with you, but I think that there is a very solid base that they've missed in a big way."