Roberto de Zerbi talked to the media about the evolution of the Tottenham team over the summer.
There have been significant changes to the composition of the first team. Jan Paul van Hecke was bought from Brighton for £52 million in June, then free transfers followed for Marcos Senesi from BournemouthAndy Robertson from Liverpool during July. Sandro Tonali was acquired for £100 million from Newcastle United, and Mateus Fernandes departed from West Ham for £85 million.
· ‘I want 21, 22 players, I think that's enough’
In the last week, Guglielmo Vicario has joined Juventus on loan, Djed Spence signed for Inter Milan, and Cristian Romero put pen to paper with Atletico Madrid. It means de Zerbi has needed to appoint a new club captain and also consider how he manages the other options in the backline.
“First of all,I'm really disappointed with Djed, because I love him, we have a great relationship, he's a very good guy, he's a very important player, but in the end, I have to respect, if he wants to play 38 games, I can't give my word, any guarantee for the players, especially if we are building a big competition inside of the squad. Right-back is, I think in this moment, one, maybe the best, maybe one of the three best right-backs in the world.
“In the left-back we have Destiny Udogie and Robertson, and both are big, big level, and if you don't want to stay anymore in Tottenham, in a big club, you have to leave. Like with Cuti, the same with Spence. Vicario called me on Wednesday when he left. I'm sorry, but football is like this.
“The new captain is Micky van de Ven. The second, Pedro Porro, third, Ben Davies, the fourth, James Maddison and the fifth, Archie Gray. Why five captains? I want many captains inside of the pitch and to be clear in the position. Every one of them, they deserve to be a captain or in the group.
“I don't want 25, 26 players. I want 21, 22 players. That's enough, especially if these players can adapt in more positions on the pitch, and we have many players who can play in different positions, Gray midfielder, right back, Conor Gallagher number 10 or number 8, it's the same van de Ven or Davies left-back. We have Mohamed Kudus, winger or a number 10, so we have a lot of solutions.
"It's not right to speak about the players until they are official. Just to say, I'm very happy. We have not finished yet in the transfer market. It's an important part, I think, because so far we have had a great summer of signings - great players, great behaviour, great spirit, great personality. You know better than me in the Premier League, you don't win the game with the names, with the big players.