West Ham have suffered a potentially huge blow in the battle for survival as rivals Spurs close in on a £70m deal to land Roberto De Zerbi with a record clause.
Staying in the Premier League may about to become a lot more difficult for West Ham after major developments at Tottenham Hotspur overnight.
The Hammers and their bitter rivals Tottenham are separated by just one point heading into the final seven games of the relegation run-in.
So West Ham have more than a passing interest in Tottenham’s managerial situation after the departure of the hapless Igor Tudor.
West Ham blow as Spurs hand De Zerbi a huge survival bonus
Spurs’ on-off move for fiery and enigmatic coach Roberto De Zerbi looked dead in the water last week when the Italian snubbed the north Londoners, making Adolf Hutter the favourite.
But there has been a big blow for West Ham as Spurs are now closing in on a staggering £70m deal to land De Zerbi and it contains a record clause which will worry the Hammers.
This team stays up ahead of Spurs 😎
Only debate is Dinos or Todibo….
Tottenham have been trying to convince De Zerbi to take the job for the last seven games but the former Brighton boss has been reluctant, wishing to wait to see if the club stays in the Premier League.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
De Zerbi was actually on West Ham’s shortlist to replace David Moyes but ended up joining Marseille instead.
A passionate presence on the touchline and tactically innovative, Spurs landing De Zerbi would legitimately worry anyone connected with West Ham.
Any new manager bounce could condemn the Hammers to the Championship.
It gets worse for West Ham too.
Because widespread reports, including from respected sources in Italy such as Gianluca Di Marzio, claim De Zerbi is on the brink of agreeing to join Tottenham after being offered a record £10m survival bonus.
Tottenham’s £10m survival carrot is bad news for West Ham
That is on top of a whopping £12m annual salary on a five-year contract – making his move to Spurs worth £70m, according to the likes of Goal.
Ten million English pounds is some carrot to dangle to keep Tottenham up.
Is this the WORST prediction of the season? 😂
Rob Earnshaw predicts West Ham to get just 3 more points…
So West Ham will – and should – be concerned.
Should, as is expected, De Zerbi accept the offer then he will be the highest paid manager around bar Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.
West Ham can actually dump Spurs into the bottom three if they beat Wolves at the London Stadium after the international break.
So De Zerbi could take charge of Tottenham for a difficult trip to Sunderland with the club in the relegation zone.
While West Ham have been on an upward curve and have been showing plenty of fight, Tottenham’s biggest problem has been a lack of it.
De Zerbi does not accept anything less than 100 per cent effort from his players and is known to be ruthless.
West Ham can expect to be taking on a rejuvenated Spurs in the last seven games on that basis alone.
Danny Murphy believes Tottenham are at a big disadvantage to West Ham in the relegation battle.
But he did state a change of manager for Spurs could be the key to them staying up.
Leeds and Nottingham Forest are not out of it by any means so it is still a four-way fight for now.
The Hammers just need to make sure they don’t rely on Tottenham being as bad as they have been this year because things could be about to change.
Relegation run-in remaining fixtures: