Tottenham are already looking ahead to the 2026/27 season after narrowly avoiding relegation on the final day of the campaign with a 1-0 win over Everton on Sunday
Roberto De Zerbi believes that Tottenham only have "10 to 12 players" who are good enough to play for the club next season. Spurs avoided relegation from the Premier League on the final day of the season with a 1-0 win over Everton and are planning how to avoid a third successive campaign down the bottom of the table.
Joao Palhinha's scrappy goal was enough for them to secure 17th place for the second straight season and condemn West Ham to the Championship. De Zerbi arrived with seven games left to try and keep Spurs up after the failed reigns of Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor and has been successful.
But after back-to-back dismal league campaigns, Tottenham are plotting a way up the table. And after taking 11 points under the Italian manager, De Zerbi is planning a major clear-out this summer.
"From tonight we have to start to organise and to build a new team," he said in his post-match press conference. "I don't think we have now to change too many players. We have 10, 11, 12 players good enough to stay. Good enough. Like players. Especially like people. And then we have to complete the squad with the first level of players.
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"First level of players because we suffered too much. I suffered a lot but I think the fans, the club, the board, the players. They suffered too much. We are Tottenham and we can't suffer like this until the last second of the last game to stay up.
"And I will be stronger. I will be stronger. I don't want to decide alone because football is a group - sporting director, scouting, CEO - but my target now is finished to stay up. My target is to start the pre-season with the team I have in my dream."
Asked which players had been key to Spurs avoiding the drop, De Zerbi replied: "[Radu] Dragusin. Dragusin was top because he didn't play, but he was always positive inside the dressing room. Inside the pitch. [Rodrigo] Bentancur. Because Bentancur, when he came back from the injury, he wanted to play. He came to me to say, ‘hey, I want to play. I'm ready to play.’
"Joao Palhinha, because at the beginning of my time, he didn't play in Sunderland, here with Brighton and Wolverhampton. Ben Davies. Yesterday, he came to the Lodge with us.
"Djed Spence. Before the Chelsea game he came in my office. Another one to say ‘I want to play.’ He said, ‘You always speak about the personality, the courage. I'm here, if you want to play with one player,’ and he was fantastic, I love it.
"Micky van de Ven. Great guy, sensitive guy. I spent a lot of time with him, because I consider him the best centre-back, left-centre-back in the Premier League, with Levi Colwill, because he was my former player and I can't forget him. But a lot of other players. Richarlison, Archie Gray, I can't say one."