Tottenham have announced Roberto De Zerbi as the club's new manager with immediate effect.
Spurs have turned to the 46-year-old former Brighton boss to save them from a potentially disastrous relegation to the Championship. The north London outfit sit 17th in the table, just one point ahead of West Ham with seven games to go.
Following the sacking of Thomas Frank in February after just eight months in charge, former Juventus boss Igor Tudor was appointed on a short-term deal until the end of the season with the goal of steering Spurs away from the drop zone.
JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
However, his time in charge could not have gone any worse with Tottenham dragged further into the scrap for survival after winning just one of his seven matches in charge - a second leg Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid, but they still exited the competition on aggregate.
Now, the Italian has been tasked with keeping Tottenham afloat. De Zerbi's appointment has now been confirmed after Spurs thrashed out a deal this week.
Speaking to club media, De Zerbi said: “I am delighted to be joining this fantastic football club, which is one of the biggest and most prestigious in the world.
“In all my discussions with the Club’s leadership, their ambition for the future has been clear – to build a team capable of reaching great achievements, and to do that playing a style of football that excites and inspires our supporters. I am here because I believe in that ambition and have signed a long-term contract to give everything to deliver it.
“Our short-term priority is to climb the Premier League table, which will be the complete focus until the final whistle of the last game of the season. I’m looking forward to getting out on the training pitch and working with these players to achieve that.”
It was reported that De Zerbi was initially only interested in taking charge of Spurs at the end of the season when their league situation was clear. Yet he has been convinced to take the job immediately.
De Zerbi left Ligue 1 giants Marseille after they were knocked out of the Champions League in the league phase before being hammered 5-0 by PSG.
The Italian's spell at Brighton also ended sourly after falling out with the board over recruitment strategy in May 2024.
Tottenham are not back in action until April 12 when they travel to Sunderland. De Zerbi's first home game at the helm will be against his former club Brighton the following weekend.
They then face bottom-placed Wolves away, a tricky test at home against Aston Villa who are chasing Champions League qualification, a trip to fellow relegation battlers Leeds, and then finally a tough London derby versus top four hopefuls Chelsea.