Although Roberto De Zerbi was not initially interested in joining Tottenham Hotspur as their manager and preferred instead to wait until after the season ended, Spurs have seemingly been successful in getting the former Brighton and Marseille manager to change his mind simpy by throwing a ton of money at him.
De Zerbi is now willing to join Tottenham immediately to help them avoid relegation from the Premier League, even though part of the reason why he was initially uninterested in the Spurs job was because he wanted to see if the club could manage to stay up in the top flight.
Tottenham's Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange, left with very little alternative options in the short term, believe that De Zerbi is both the guy who can save them from the EFL Championship and also lead the team into the future. They are willing to spend big on De Zerbi and take themselves off the table for a reunion with Mauricio Pochettino, who is the fans' No. 1 choice to coach Spurs.
Roberto De Zerbi may not get immediate results
Well, the last time Roberto De Zerbi freshly joined a Premier League team, he took over for Brighton in late September and early October in the 2022/23 season for Graham Potter, who went to Chelsea. De Zerbi drew his first game 3-3 to Liverpool, but he did not win a single of his first five games until he battled Chelsea's Potter and beat him 4-1.
De Zebri eventually got into the swing of things and had a strong first season with the Seagulls, but it took him a handful of games to get his ideas properly implemented before the flourished. In those first five games, he only got two points, including shutout losses to Tottenham Hotspur and Thomas Frank's Brentford.
Although De Zerbi has good tactical ideas, they are not basic principles that can be implemented immediately in a squad that has struggled to maintain possession and create chances this season. He has also never been asked to turn things around at a club in trouble; this is going to be the first time De Zerbi is tasked with being a relegation specialist.
Tottenham will be paying him handsomely for his efforts, but money spent is not always proprotional to results. Spurs are missing an important point about De Zerbi's track record. Results may not be as immediate as what they want or what they are paying for, and if they go down, he could easily leave with all his earnings.