:focal(184x34:186x32)/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/04/02/image-6f7a195d-3f6e-4f35-b983-177e31b98153-85-2560-1440.jpeg "De Zerbi: I will be Tottenham boss next season 'no matter what’ - TNT Sports")
Tottenham Hotspur's newly appointed manager Roberto De Zerbi has said he will be in north London "no matter what" next season, with the club facing a huge relegation battle. Spurs sit just one point ahead of 18th-placed West Ham with seven matches to go and were defeated 3-0 by Nottingham Forest last time out, in a game that proved to be the end of Igor Tudor's ill-fated tenure in north London.
Roberto De Zerbi has pledged his allegiance to new club Tottenham Hotspur by saying he will be coach ”no matter what" next season.
De Zerbi comes into the job as Spurs manager with a significant task on his hands, as his new club scramble to try and stay in the Premier League.
Spurs sit in 17th place and have not won a match in the league since December, which has seen them tumble towards the relegation zone.
Igor Tudor’s ill-fated stint in north London saw them notch just one point from five matches as their gap to the relegation zone shrunk to just one point.
Following a 3-0 home defeat to fellow relegation contenders Nottingham Forest, the Tudor experiment was swiftly ended and Spurs secured the services of De Zerbi.
The Italian managed Brighton & Hove Albion from 2022 until 2024, before taking the helm at Marseille and returning the French giants to the UEFA Champions League. But he departed Marseille in February and now joins Spurs on a five-year contract.
And De Zerbi says he will be manager of Tottenham next season, regardless of which division the club are in.
The 46-year-old said: ”I am very happy to be here. I consider Tottenham to be one of the most important clubs in the world and so I am very happy.
”I have a big responsibility, but it is a big challenge for me and I look forward to starting and working with the players, and to win some games.
”I have watched a lot of games, especially in the last period. I know very well the players, I love football, so I watch many, many games per week.
”I know everything, I know it is a tough moment for Tottenham but I think we have the right qualities to come out from this moment.
”I believe in the players, I think we have to remember who we are and who the players are, because we have very big players and we have to work on their confidence and their qualities.
”I signed a five-year contract because for me, it is a big challenge and I will be the coach of Tottenham next season no matter what.”
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Spurs face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on April 12 in their first match under De Zerbi, their third manager of the season after Thomas Frank was sacked in February.
The Londoners then welcome Brighton to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 18, in a game that has been highlighted as it is the first time De Zerbi will come up against his former club.
Spurs have won just two games at home all season, including a 3-0 win over Burnley on the opening weekend of the campaign, showing the size of the challenge De Zerbi has on his hands.
But he is taking a pragmatic approach and insisting that Spurs will be taking each game as it comes under his stewardship, starting with Sunderland.
”I think we have to be focused just on the Sunderland game, I don’t want to hear people talking about the Brighton game or the Wolverhampton game, it is game by game,” the Italian said.
”We have to prepare the players to win the game, to be focused just on the game, we have to play with courage.
”We have to play with the quality of the players because if I accepted this challenge, it is because I have big confidence in the players and the style in the history of Tottenham is a very clear style of play.”
Spurs fans attempted to gee up the players ahead of the game against Forest, with spectators turning out in their droves to cheer the team bus.
De Zerbi is hoping the fans can continue to support the club in what is sure to be a mammoth seven matches to come.
”The fans in the last seven games, especially in this moment are crucial, we have to be together," De Zerbi added.
”They have to stay close to the players and the players have to show the right mentality, the right attitude to give back to the fans and what they want to see on the pitch.
”After this part of the season, I think we can become great in the future.”
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