Football Italia

Bryan King, a former senior scout at Tottenham, has questioned the decision to let Djed Spence join Inter, arguing the fee was too low and the player too important to lose.

Speaking to Football Insider, King was blunt about the deal that took the England international to San Siro in the summer.

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“I’m still trying to work out why they got rid of Spence. Full England international. £25m. There could have been other players moved on from Tottenham before him,” he said. “Spence had a good World Cup. He became an established international and to move him on for that kind of money, I don’t know.”

Spence’s Inter move leaves Spurs thin at right-back

Tottenham spent more than £400m over the summer but did not sign a senior replacement, and a late approach for Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams was rebuffed.

That has left Archie Gray, a natural midfielder, filling in at right-back, including when he replaced the injured Pedro Porro after 19 minutes of Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa.

Roberto De Zerbi insists he is comfortable with the situation. “We have Archie Gray, he prefers playing in the midfield position but he can play very well also as a right-back. I think we are good.”

For Inter, an England international at that price looks increasingly like good business.

The three-week break for international duty is practically unheard of, so after Inter and Tottenham Hotspur gave players an entire week off, former Italy fitness coach Vincenzo Pincolini explains the benefits and dangers.

The new UEFA calendar was introduced this season after international managers complained they didn’t have enough time to work with their players before big games.

It combines two sets of Nations League fixtures, so they get to play four matches, but it means the domestic leagues are off until October 9.

This inevitably affects the club sides who have some players left, but probably not enough to do any effective tactical work in training.

International duty a minefield for clubs

Some, like Inter’s Cristian Chivu and Roberto De Zerbi at Premier League side Tottenham, have given the remaining players a whole week off to do as they wish.

Gennaro Gattuso gave Lazio five days for their vacation, with most teams varying between these two approaches.

La Gazzetta dello Sport contacted former Italy and Milan fitness coach Pincolini, who is now working with coach Paolo Nicolato’s Latvia, to ask about the risks.

“Those players who aren’t on international duty have an important advantage, because they will have time to do what is no longer possible even in the summer, seeing as there are now such long pre-season retreats,” said Pincolini.

“Inter did very well to give their players such a long time off, because it’s not just rest, but giving them responsibility for looking after themselves. It shows the coach trusts them.

“There are gyms everywhere now, so they’ll have a schedule to stick to. I can work with you on the pitch, but if you don’t do the rest at home, eat the right things, get good rest, then it all gets wiped out.”

Some teams will benefit more than others from this time off, and we could see the effects once the league resumes on October 9.

“If you don’t have many players on international duty, you can train for three weeks without pressure, have a couple of relaxed friendly matches, and be ready against a side that had seven or eight players in four international matches,” added Pincolini.

“It’s longer than a winter break, it’s a sort of mini pre-season. Training can only do so much, but having a full 90-minute match is the most important training that a player can have. It’s never going to be the same.”

Matteo Ruggeri and Sandro Tonali started at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon and left with opposite verdicts after a 3-2 win for Aston Villa, leaving Roberto De Zerbi’s Spurs winless after their first five games of the season.

Ruggeri made his first Premier League start since joining Villa from Atletico Madrid in August, having managed just 23 minutes as a substitute beforehand. He lasted the full 90 and earned a 7.5 FotMob rating, matching his mark against Coventry in the midweek EFL Cup clash.

Ruggeri neutralises Savio as Villa beat Tottenham

His numbers: 94 touches, 51 successful passes at 92.7 per cent, six interceptions, eight clearances and 11 recoveries, covering 14.5km. Savio, the winger he was up against, was rated 4/10 by one outlet on the basis that Ruggeri worked him out inside 20 minutes.

Tonali’s afternoon matched his team’s. He was positive early, carrying from deep and cutting back for Dominic Solanke before going close himself from range, then faded as Spurs were overrun through the middle. He completed 59 of his 65 attempted passes and won 7/8 of his defensive duels but struggled elsewhere.

Tonali has now played five Premier League games since his summer move without a win, with Tottenham on two points from five.

Italian Sandro Tonali starts for Tottenham against Matteo Ruggeri’s Aston Villa this evening as both sides aim to win their first Premier League game of the season.

It kicks off at 13:30 CET [12:30 BST] at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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Tonali starts for his fifth consecutive Premier League game with Tottenham, who have only collected two points in the opening four league games of the campaign and haven’t yet scored a goal in the Premier League.

Tonali is part of Roberto Mancini’s 34-man Italy squad that will play Nations League games against Turkey, France and Belgium during the upcoming two-week break.

Tottenham have another Italian player on the bench, Destiny Udogie, who, by contrast, won’t be part of the Italy squad.

The same is true of Ruggeri, who starts for Aston Villa today.

The former Atletico Madrid and Atalanta defender was only called up once by Italy in 2025, but hasn’t yet made his debut.

The 23-year-old starts his first Premier League game with Aston Villa today.

Unai Emery’s side have only collected one point in the opening four Premier League games.

Official Tottenham vs. Aston Villa line-ups

Tottenham: Kinsky, Robertson, van Hecke, Tonali, Savio, Fernandes, Solanke, Marmoush, Pedro Porro, Bentancur, van de Ven.

Tottenham bench: Dubravka, Tosin, Senesi, Gallagher, Maddison, Udogie, Gray, Bergvall, Kudus.

Aston Villa: Suzuki, Lindelof, Mings, McGinn (c), Kamara, Buendia, Jackson, Ruggeri, Wan-Bissaka, Gomes, Manzambi.

Christophe Dugarry has taken aim at Roberto De Zerbi, questioning whether the Italian is equipped for a job of Tottenham’s size and suggesting his contract is a heist.

According to Alfredo Pedullà, the former Milan, Barcelona and Marseille forward made the comments to RMC Sport. “I have never really understood what his level actually is,” Dugarry said. “They tell me he did well at Brighton, Sassuolo and other clubs, but for me he is still not an absolute guarantee for coaching the big teams.”

He then turned to the length of the deal. “He signed a five-year contract. What he has done is a genuine robbery, without even needing to wear a mask. It is incredible.”

De Zerbi still waiting for a first league goal at Tottenham this season

The timing is unhelpful for the Italian. Spurs have taken two points from four Premier League matches and are yet to score, a run now stretching beyond 400 minutes, with back-to-back goalless draws against Nottingham Forest and Everton. The latter ended with the home crowd booing his players off at full-time.

That record sits awkwardly against a summer outlay of roughly €350m, which is the real source of the scrutiny rather than the contract itself.

De Zerbi’s teams have historically needed time to settle, and the ideas that earned him admirers at Sassuolo and Brighton were never quick fixes. But four games without a goal in the league this season buys very little patience anywhere, and none at all at a club that has changed manager as often as Tottenham have.

Multiple outlets in Italy are reporting that former Inter director Piero Ausilio is closing in on an agreement to take over as the new sporting director at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur after his 28-year career with the Nerazzurri.

Ausilio closing in on Tottenham agreement after long-term Inter stint

Ausilio officially left his position as sporting director at Inter on September 2, the day after the summer transfer window had come to an end and has since been replaced by his long-term deputy Dario Baccin.

Ausilio had originally joined Inter as a secretary with the youth teams all the way back in the late 1990s before progressing through various roles and eventually into the position of sporting director, a role that he held for well over a decade.

The Nerazzurri won three Serie A titles, three Coppa Italias and three trophies in the Supercoppa Italiana as well as reaching the Champions League final twice and the Europa League final once.

Reports over the weekend suggested that Ausilio had been approached by Tottenham to take over as sporting director following the end of his time in San Siro.

Now, according to reports from various outlets in Italy including La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ausilio is closing in on an agreement with Tottenham. The Pink Papers claims that it is looking like a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ Ausilio goes to Spurs.

He would find several Italian connections in North London, most obviously head coach Roberto De Zerbi and players Sandro Tonali and Destiny Udogie.

Ausilio would also be the second Italian sporting director at Tottenham following the tenure of Fabio Paratici, who is now at the helm at Fiorentina.

Roberto De Zerbi has confirmed that Sandro Tonali will not be available to feature for Tottenham in their EFL Cup third-round tie against Liverpool on Wednesday, which comes as a slight concern for the Italy national team, whose squad for the upcoming international break is set to be announced later this week.

Tonali ruled out of Liverpool vs. Tottenham

Tottenham are due to take on Liverpool at Anfield in the third round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night, but head coach De Zerbi has confirmed that he will have to do without the most expensive Italian footballer of all-time.

Tonali ‘felt a knock’ and will not be risked against Liverpool in the cup, De Zerbi has confirmed.

The former Milan midfielder did not feature in Tottenham’s previous EFL cup fixture, a 5-1 victory over Championship side Charlton Athletic, but has started in all four Premier League matches in 2026-27 and has played the full 90 minutes in three of those fixtures.

Assuming that he is still fit enough to feature, Tonali is a nailed-on candidate to be included in Roberto Mancini’s first Italy national team squad of the season, his first since being re-appointed as CT earlier this summer.

The Italy national team squad is due to be announced on Friday.

There could be a return for Italy’s Destiny Udogie when Tottenham take on Liverpool on Wednesday night. The left-back did not feature in the Premier League over the weekend, and has earned just two starts so far this season, once in the league against Nottingham Forest and once in the previous round of the cup against Charlton.

Roberto De Zerbi drew attention to himself by suggesting that he would be considered ‘the best coach in Italy’ after recording back-to-back clean sheets in the Premier League with Tottenham, despite the fact that Spurs are winless and in 17th place after four matches of the 2026-27 season.

De Zerbi: ‘In Italy, I should be the best coach, no?’

Tottenham were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton at home in the Premier League on Saturday evening, their second consecutive goalless draw following a stalemate against Nottingham Forest last weekend.

Before then, Tottenham were beaten 3-0 by Brentford in the opening weekend and 2-0 by Newcastle at the end of August. Their only win so far this season has come in the EFL Cup, at home against Championship side Charlton Athletic, who made 10 changes against a competitive De Zerbi side.

Speaking to the media after Saturday’s Premier League draw against Everton, De Zerbi encouraged reporters to consider the positives, pointing to Tottenham’s consecutive clean sheets rather than the fact that they have not yet scored a single goal in the English top flight this season.

“In Italy for example now, I should be the best coach, no? Two games, two clean sheets, or no? Tomorrow, what do you write? Clean sheet or no goals?,” De Zerbi toyed in the press room.

Roberto De Zerbi: "In Italy, I'd be the best coach." 👀 pic.twitter.com/X39Hiz0tUU

— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) September 12, 2026

The pressure is beginning to mount on De Zerbi, who was brought in towards the end of a disastrous 2025-26 season that saw Tottenham flirt with relegation until the final days of the campaign.

The Italian head coach was given over €350m to spend during the summer transfer window, making Sandro Tonali the most expensive Italian footballer as well as signing the likes of Matheus Fernandes, Savio and Omar Marmoush, but is still yet to see his side hit the back of the net in the Premier League after four matches in 2026-27.

Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham were jeered off at full-time after a second successive goalless draw left them without a win or a goal in the Premier League this season.

Spurs have taken just two points from their opening four fixtures despite a summer outlay of around €350m. Sunday’s stalemate at home to Everton followed the 0-0 at Nottingham Forest, and stretched the club’s barren run beyond 400 minutes.

Everton the better side as De Zerbi’s Spurs create next-to-nothing

De Zerbi again set up in a 4-2-3-1, with Kinsky behind a back four of Gray, van Hecke, van der Ven and Robertson, Tonali and Bentancur in midfield, and Savio, Mateus Fernandes and Marmoush supporting Solanke. Tottenham started brightly enough for 15 minutes but manufactured little of substance, and Everton grew into the game and controlled long spells of it.

The Italian turned to Tel, Kudus and Bergvall after the break, but the pattern did not change. Barry and Dewsbury-Hall carved out the visitors’ best openings, while Tottenham’s clearest chance came on 88 minutes, Bergvall’s effort from range well held by Jordan Pickford.

Former Inter director Piero Ausilio suddenly departed the club this month, and it’s because he is reportedly in advanced talks for a new job at Tottenham Hotspur.

The long-standing transfer guru had been working at Inter in various different roles for the best part of 30 years, and until last week had been their director of sport.

It was a position he had held since February 2014, but one that was terminated suddenly on September 2.

Ausilio eager for Tottenham adventure

According to transfer pundit Matteo Moretto, speaking on Fabrizio Romano’s Italian language YouTube channel, Ausilio has been approached by Tottenham Hotspur.

The Italian turns 52 in December and has been involved in “positive and advanced” dialogue with Spurs, claims Moretto.

It would bolster the Italian contingent in North London, which already has coach Roberto De Zerbi and midfielder Sandro Tonali.

Tottenham did have an Italian director of sport in the form of Fabio Paratici, albeit briefly.