Roberto De Zerbi says he is hopeful of another “bomba” signing at Spurs this summer.
The club have already been active in the transfer market, splashing the cash to bring in Sandro Tonali, Jan Paul van Hecke and Mateus Fernandes, along with the free transfer signings of Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi.
But the Tottenham boss says he is only “60% done” in the transfer market.
“In the transfer market when I want one player I become like a shark,” De Zerbi joked. “No chance to say no.
“The transfer market, it’s not finished for sure, but we completed 60 per cent of our project in the transfer market. Now we have another bomba.”
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Asked if that signing was close, he replied: “I hope, but it’s not finished for sure.”
Several exits at Spurs are also expected before the transfer window shuts, however, with Guglielmo Vicario, Lucas Bergvall and Cristian Romero all keen to move on.
“At the beginning of my time, in April, I had, I don’t know, one million individual meetings, and they told me their idea,” he said when asked about players wanting to depart.
“I said: Yes, help me to stay up, and then I help you to leave. If you don’t help me to stay up, you stay underwater with me.
“If you want to leave, speak with Vinai and Johan, because I don’t manage the price of the sale. I can speak with Vinai and Johan about the best strategy to do, but I don’t decide £30m, £40m. That’s not my position, and I don’t want to change my position. It’s tough enough to be a coach, and I want to stay as a coach.”
On Romero specifially, De Zerbi said: “After the semi-final [against England] we text a message, but I never called him to convince him to stay. I respected what he told me. Like for Vicario, like for every player.”
“Romero as a player is one of the best centre-backs in the world, but at the end I said I want to respect the will of the players.”