Roberto De Zerbi has big ambitions at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Italian had to come in as Spurs' third head coach of the 2025/26 season to rescue the club, escaping relegation to the Championship by the skin of their teeth with a final day victory over Everton to condemn rivals West Ham United to the second tier instead.
And no sooner had he achieved the miracle than he set about transforming the squad he had inherited to ensure that such a situation would never happen again in the white half of north London.
De Zerbi wants more signings at Spurs
Six new players have arrived in N17 - Martin Dubravka, Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi on free transfers and Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali on big-money deals.
De Zerbi is not done there and plans on adding to his attacking talent, with the head coach announcing a deal was close earlier this week.
He said: "In the transfer market when I want one player I become like a shark, No chance to say no!
"The transfer market, it's not finished for sure, but we completed 60% of our project in the transfer market. Now we have another bomba!"
When asked if that "bomba" deal was close, he added: "I hope, but it's not finished for sure."
Big changes are being made at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Lewis family have put their money where their mouths are by backing the new man in the dugout, something they vowed to do in a rare statement just hours after the club escaped relegation.
Tottenham's poor 2025/26 campaign could adversely work in their favour when it comes to the 2026/27 season. Finishing 17th means Spurs will only have domestic football to negotiate this coming season, with no European football on the cards.
While that brings with it its own drawbacks - fringe players perhaps not getting opportunities and being forced to move on, as seen with the exits of Will Lankshear, Luka Vuskovic and Alfie Devine, it can actually prove beneficial to De Zerbi and his squad, as Manchester United proved - eventually - in 2025/26.
United had failed to qualify for European football last season, having had a similarly bad campaign to Tottenham in 2024/25, finishing just above them in the table and losing to the Lilywhites in the UEFA Europa League final.
While it did not help Ruben Amorim, who would be sacked midway through the campaign, Michael Carrick certainly benefited and really got a tune out of his United players.
Spurs can learn from what Carrick did at United
Going out of the domestic cups early under Amorim and with nothing else to worry about, United focused all their efforts on the Premier League and they have been the best team in the calendar year of 2026 so far, with Carrick guiding the Red Devils to a third-placed finish, picking up 41 points, one more than champions Arsenal.
Many even questioned whether they might have been able to challenge the Gunners for the title had Carrick been there for the entire campaign, so good was their form.
United have set the example for Spurs to follow at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and with De Zerbi in place for the start of the campaign, if he can follow Carrick's example Spurs may well be well placed to be one of the surprise packages of the season.