Roberto De Zerbi has made it clear that Lucas Bergvall is "100 per cent" staying at Tottenham this season but cannot give the same guarantee about Pape Matar Sarr.
Bergvall made it known to the club earlier in the summer before his departure for the World Cup that he wanted a fresh challenge this season to develop as a number eight. Spurs rejected bids from Newcastle and Nottingham Forest for the 20-year-old and De Zerbi gave the young midfielder plenty of starts and minutes throughout pre-season.
The Italian believes that Bergvall now wants to remain at the club but admits he is unsure if his 23-year-old team-mate Sarr will still be wearing a Tottenham shirt once September 1 ends due to the £185million arrival of midfielders Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.
"Lucas Bergvall, 100 per cent [he is staying]. We spoke a lot in pre season. He’s a top player, a top potential player. I like that he stays but I think now he wants to stay and we have no problem," said De Zerbi. "For Pape, he started pre-season late because he stayed in Senegal until the first week in August, I think.
"He’s a good player. I don’t know if he stays or not we have to analyse the situation, but he is another very very important player."
FOLLOW OUR TOTTENHAM FB PAGE! Latest Spurs news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
Tottenham could potentially take their spending to £377million this summer with the arrival of Manchester City attackers Savinho and Omar Marmoush. The north London club's owners, the Lewis family, promised "actions not words" after last season's near relegation and De Zerbi said they and the board have been true to that.
"I am very happy and I think I can't speak about the other coaches [in the past]. I just can say, in my experience, they kept their word, they kept what they said before I came in March. The end of March, in the middle of March, and then very happy," said the 47-year-old.
"But what we are doing is not for the coach. It’s for the club, for the fans, for the history of the club, for the pride of the club, and for the level of the club. I think this moment is crucial for this club, because after two seasons like we had, we have to change the mood, completely change it, give it a boost.
"Then, I think when we have finished in this transfer market, for a long time we don't need many things and we can work all together in the right condition, in the right direction, to build step by step something special, or to go to compete for the top of the table.
"Not maybe now, or maybe yes, I don't know, but we have the squad to play in every stadium in the right way. Face to face, we know we have to improve. We have to become a team, but I think we also have all the qualities to do that."
De Zerbi believes the potential is there in his new-look squad to challenge for the biggest prizes but he wants to see what things look like when the window closes.
"Yes. Big potential. At the end of the transfer market, I will be more accurate in my opinion," he said. "I have to keep the balance because sometimes the transfer market - with Tonali and JP Van Henke - we bring in a lot."
There has been plenty of moaning from rival fans and pundits about Tottenham's spending in this window despite the club having gone the right way about it by using their stadium revenue and bringing in a potential £213million in sales and loans this summer.
De Zerbi cannot understand the noise but he also saw it last season and will use it to his benefit.
"I don’t know, you have to explain to me. For me, no pressure and it’s not a problem. I don’t know why the people don’t love if Tottenham becomes better. It’s one motivation more for us. Last season, all other clubs wanted to kill us. This is another part of football," he said.
"[I remind me the players of it] every week. Every week we have to remember last season. The last friendly game against Hoffenheim, the time before was against Everton. You can imagine the difference between that game and the game against Everton when we stayed up with all that pressure."
So how close is this Tottenham side to being the one that De Zerbi wants to see take to the field?
"On paper its very close. On the pitch we have to see and we have to work. I am experienced enough not to say too much. I’m very happy with the squad. We have to complete the squad but at the moment very happy. The answer I receive from the pitch has to be like my dreams and my thoughts with the board," he said.
"Maybe we have to see on the pitch. To be honest, everyone, we are very excited but in the end the pitch speaks, as we say in Italian. If we start now with big words, I love pressure it’s not a problem of pressure, but if we are to be honest and correct, we have to wait for the answer from the pitch.
"Football is a connection. Football is like magic. You can find sometimes the connection between players when every player thinks like the coach or we come together with an idea of football and the players who don’t start in the team are the biggest fans of the players who are playing. We have to create something on the pitch and off the pitch to compete like we want."
Spurs have a £100million man in their ranks now in Tonali after his club record transfer from Newcastle. While De Zerbi has known the Italy international for years, he did not realise just how good the 26-year-old is until he began to coach him.
"Sandro Tonali is better than I thought before working with him, as a player and as a guy. I know his family, his agents, and I know they all are good people," he said. "I’m very happy to work with him and I think he’s the right player in the right place. Especially because we want to put him inside of the project. He has the right qualities, the right personality, the right values, to stay in this place."
The transfer window still has 11 days to run and De Zerbi does not think he needs to keep his players happy as they will need to understand the level of the squad he is looking to build to help Tottenham become challengers again.
"Nothing [to do]. I love speaking clearly. Today is August 21st, I think every one of those players, they already know the squad. If one of them doesn’t want to accept the competition inside the pitch, inside the dressing room, they can leave," admitted the Italian.
"I try to be honest and to decide the better decision I can on the pitch to find the best first XI, but the players have to accept why because if we want to become better, if we want to compete for the top of the table, 11 players are not enough, 15 players are not enough.
"If you analyse the teams - Liverpool two years ago, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Milan, the squad there has a big competition inside the dressing room."
In a squad that is constantly increasing in level, what do the new attacking arrivals mean for Mikey Moore with the 19-year-old in line to feature against Brentford in Saturday's Premier League opener amid a mooted loan move to Bundesliga side Koln?
"Now is not the right moment to speak about the last 10 days of transfer market. I think it’s not finished yet I said. I’m very happy with Mikey Moore, he’s working well, he’s a good player, I don’t know if he goes or not on loan," said De Zerbi.
"I think he has a big potential for the club and we try to find the best solution for every player we have, also for Luca Williams-Barnett or Malachi [Hardy], two potential big players. Proud that they come from our academy. We have to manage them the best way we can."
De Zerbi helped arrange for a large group of former Tottenham players, including the likes of Glenn Hoddle, Gary Mabbutt and Steve Perryman, to speak to his current squad to explain the "soul" of the club.
"The players and especially the foreign players, they have to understand the level of this club. Even if we finish two seasons in a row in 17th position, nothing changes and the level of the club can’t change because in the last two seasons it was not great," he said. "The legends, I think they can explain better than me or better than you what Tottenham has been [before] in the Premier League and in Europe."
There was one player missing though who De Zerbi would have loved to have seen himself and got him speaking to some of his attackers.
"I’m sorry I didn’t see Chris Waddle," he admitted. "Chris Waddle was one of my favourite players when I was a kid and he played in Marseille. In Marseille I said the same like this and Waddle would have been good for Kudus, for Kulusevski, for Xavi Simons, for Mathys [Tel] because he was a great player."