Tottenham have already decided which of their players they will refuse to sell this summer as their attention, or at least a part of it, turns to offloading players. Spurs have spent more than £235million so far during the summer window, which is a record spend for the club, and they are not done yet.
Roberto De Zerbi has strengthened his defence and midfield so far this summer, but attention will now turn to the attacking areas, with a winger understood to be the main priority But exits will take place, and the likes of Cristian Romero and Guglielmo Vicario will likely lead the way, while there is also speculation surrounding the future of Lucas Bergvall.
Tottenham will not consider exit under any circumstances
One player who has no chance of leaving Tottenham this summer is centre-back Micky van de Ven, despite some links. Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has said on his YouTube show: "Tottenham are ready to let Romero go to move on and to try something different. Credit to Tottenham because they already invested, so they are not going to enter the market when the world people know that they are letting Romero go.
"They sign Van Hecke, they sign Marco Senesi. Van de Ven is absolutely untouchable. All the stories on Van de Ven, Liverpool, Van de Ven to Barcelona. Fake news. Van de Ven is staying and is a crucial player for De Zerbi. So it's very clear that Cuti Romero is going to leave Tottenham."
Van de Ven is under contract at Tottenham until 2029, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see Spurs extend that deal, given how highly they value the Dutch defender.
Van de Ven a big fan of De Zerbi
While there has been some concern Van de Ven will want to play European football, the defender is seemingly willing to stick around for at least another year to see if De Zerbi can turn things around, fully believing in the Italian.
He said at the end of last season: "We’ve been through a rollercoaster and since Roberto came in, I think a new positive flow came into the group and we played some better football and we got the points.
“The gaffer has been unbelievable, I'm not going to lie, since he stepped in. I spoke a lot with him as well because he also saw that I was not in the best mood, even at the training ground. So, he spoke a lot to me and he said to me, ‘you're going to be a really important player for me these last couple of games and I'm going to rely on you. You need to trust me and trust me, I trust you’. He said, ‘I've seen you play even when I was at Brighton, when I was at Marseille, you're a top player and I'm going to need you these last couple of games, so let's push together’.
"I think he did it with multiple players who had a lot of conversations with him and he gave us so much confidence. I think that's really important, especially when you're in the difficult situation we were in. Luckily, we came through it and I'm really proud of the boys.”