Tottenham Hotspur's pre-season tours can be fraught affairs, logistical beasts that require compromise between the football, commercial and promotional aspects of visits across the globe.
The 2026 edition though felt different, as laid back as the Aussies and Kiwis that the club encountered on their travels. Much of it is down to Roberto De Zerbi as well as the new focus from the club's hierarchy on the football rather than simply the finances.
Spurs took 110 employees on the tour to the other side of the world. That's roughly the same as previous tours but this time it included a big squad of 35 players, meaning club staff numbers were trimmed.
Putting football first also included fewer sponsor and community events for the players to attend in Auckland and Sydney, giving them more recovery time between De Zerbi's tough pre-season sessions.
That's in stark contrast to his compatriot Antonio Conte's tenure when a packed schedule in 2022 during a trip to South Korea led to the Italian making last-minute changes galore as he grew frustrated with the various planned events. To be fair that was in keeping with Conte's style during the rest of the seasons with the days and timing of weekly training sessions at Hotspur Way often given to the players at the latest of notice.
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One Spurs player back then kept needing to move a dentist appointment because Conte kept changing the team's day off the night before it was meant to happen.
You might remember the Conte pre-season in Korea as the one in which Harry Kane threw up at the side of the pitch after the infamous pitch-long runs following training, while Son Heung-min collapsed to the floor and in doing so scared a nation.
There has been no vomit in sight under De Zerbi's watch, well nothing on public show anyway.
No manager particularly likes far-flung pre-season tours but the 47-year-old at least got to dictate what he wanted this time. Offers for further matches abroad for after the tour dates came in to the club, but De Zerbi made it clear that this was enough.
He managed his squad carefully after the 30-hour trip out to New Zealand, with two stops, including one at their later destination Sydney.
De Zerbi leant on the young players for games and training sessions to ensure the first team stars were built up gradually for a season that will ask plenty of them with his demands despite the reduced fixture load.
The Italian encouraged his players to get out and use their downtime, taking advantage of the anonymity that such a trip brings. Of the 5.6million people living in Sydney, a city that loves its rugby league, AFL and cricket, a fraction are bothered about football (or soccer) and then a fraction of that would be able to recognise a Spurs player.
That's not to say the club aren't followed well Down Under. 80,363 fans packed into the Accor Stadium to watch Tottenham beat Chelsea 2-1 on Saturday night.
But there was a chance for the various friendship groups within the squad to get out and explore the city in a way they can't do back home.
That meant you could spot James Maddison having lunch with the Dutchmen Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke at Bondi Beach, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall cycling around Circular Quay in the day or sightseeing at the Sydney Opera House at night.
Antonin Kinsky's budding bromance with new goalkeeper Martin Dubravka took them around the city and even De Zerbi and his staff could be spotted in various spots, including Sydney's botanical gardens, as they waited for their jet lag to wear off.
Players and staff were always in their Spurs-branded tracksuits. That would make them stand out a mile at home, but in Sydney and Auckland, they were faces in a crowd, particularly among the tourists in the Australian city.
Among the staff on tour was performance director Dan Lewindon, who has been putting into place the changes recommended from his wide-ranging review of the club's sports science, medical and performance departments since arriving from The City Football Group.
New arrivals have come through the door, exits have occurred and the most public-facing change from his work will have been the construction going on to improve the gym at Hotspur Way, along with the installation of a new tactical briefing room for De Zerbi and his players.
The Spurs stars will return from their tour to continue to use the smaller gym within The Lodge, which the England national team use, as well as the outdoor set-up in the warm summer weeks that has proved popular with the players. The main gym is expected to be back up and running for use as the Premier League season gets up and running.
Also spotted around Sydney was chief revenue officer Ryan Norys, who has become the star man behind the scenes in driving the commercial and sponsorship revenue that have helped Spurs with financial fair play rules. Remaining on his to-do list are those stadium naming rights.
There are also the powers-that-be in charge of this new era in the club's history. Only those who know the faces of the Tottenham powerbrokers would have spotted one of the owners, Vivienne Lewis, often walking around the city or the team hotel in Sydney.
Even the club's passionate OzSpurs supporters' group did not realise they had been speaking to her for an hour or so during an event at Sydney's new fish market earlier in the week.
Like those who chat to her on matchdays at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Australian supporters were disarmed by the surprisingly down-to-earth, friendly nature of someone who has grown up in a billionaire family and just auctioned off a load of art for £300million.
Lewis and her son-in-law Nick Beucher are providing the support behind the scenes to ensure CEO Vinai Venkatesham can build a club that everyone can be proud of after a season in which nobody was.
In a summer when Spurs have spent £237million so far in the market, with plenty more to come, Venkatesham has formed a transfer triangle of power with sporting director Johan Lange and new director of football operations Rafi Moersen.
Venkatesham has been keen to empower staff within the club and somewhat dismantle the hierarchical structure at Tottenham over the previous 24 years. Former chairman Daniel Levy was involved in most matters from the top to micro-managing decisions far below his paygrade.
So while Lange is the football man and will work on the transfer targets with De Zerbi - most of them set in place during the negotiations to hire the Italian in mid-March - all three men are involved with the head coach in getting deals over the line.
Club relationships are leant upon as the load is shared. So for example, Venkatesham's years in the Premier League mean he has good connections at the likes of West Ham and Newcastle, helping him get the massive club record deals for Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali towards their closure.
Moersen's role is a wide-ranging one across the football departments, both men and women's, and he will be the contracts man, helped by the club's new improved wage structure.
Moersen spent years within the City Football Group so his relationship there will be utilised as Spurs look to sign winger Savinho and potentially explore a move for another player De Zerbi loves in Omar Marmoush.
The Egyptian is one of those on the Italian's wishlist along with Liverpool's Cody Gakpo and others who can improve the attack. Both Marmoush and Gakpo can play up front or out wide, to give De Zerbi more options and either would prove to be an effective signing alongside Savinho.
For Lange, this summer he will have felt unshackled. The Dane was working under strict parameters in the old set-up, leaning heavily on his and his recruitment team's knowledge of the youth with potential market.
It was a time when top choices were barely worth placing among the names on the whiteboard because the financial might was not there to lay a glove in any transfer battle or even entice the player.
Now the gloves are off and Spurs' recruitment department can bring suggestions to De Zerbi and he to them with the knowledge that Spurs can compete. Lange can shake off the association with a sub-par January window before the club bring in another sporting director later in the year to return to their previous model before Fabio Paratici's sharp exit back home.
De Zerbi's transfer 'bomba' moment looked to be his way of keeping everyone on their toes as he seeks those attacking players to complete his squad before the season gets under way.
The initial flurry of activity in June, with six new faces through the door, has gone quiet in recent weeks.
De Zerbi offered up the 'bomba' to football.london within moments of starting an hour-long chat in Sydney, with plenty more to come in the days ahead from a fascinating sit down.
"The transfer market, it's not finished for sure, but we completed 60 per cent of our project in the transfer market. Now we have another bomba!" the Italian told football.london with an excited look in his eye.
De Zerbi confirmed the new arrival would be an attacker and when asked whether the deal was close, he added: "I hope, but it's not finished for sure."
The expected move for Savinho is believed to be separate to that 'bomba' the head coach spoke of, or perhaps alongside if Spurs were to make a double move for him and Marmoush.
De Zerbi's 'bomba' comment put pressure on those above, especially when bigger deals take time to close, particularly if the selling club wants to find a replacement first.
It was therefore no shock when the Italian walked back the comment slightly the following day, claiming 'bomba' means something different in his homeland.
If you listen to the press conference carefully you can hear the English media giggling like schoolchildren as what they predicted came to pass.
Of course De Zerbi's original follow-up comment about hoping the deal was close undermined his later walkback slightly.
The Spurs boss made it clear that he expects two to three new arrivals before the window closes and there will be departures.
Both Cristian Romero and Guglielmo Vicario have informed De Zerbi of their intention to wish this summer and the new arrivals mean that can happen, although if Spurs want both to depart sooner rather than later then price tags will drop.
That Romero, a player De Zerbi considers to be one of the best centre-backs in the world, could leave for a fee less than 19-year-old Luka Vuskovic and newcomer Van Hecke, who had one year left on his contract, says plenty about the situation and the lesser financial capabilities of those who want him like Inter Milan. Only a few clubs outside the Premier League have the resources to pay the same kind of fees that English sides do and the values that market dictates.
De Zerbi had an exchange of texts with Romero in recent days but he explained it was simply to sort out the Argentine's return to Hotspur Way after his post-World Cup rest.
The Spurs boss would love to keep Lucas Bergvall in north London and has given him plenty of game time on the tour to show that, even if the young Swede will be aware that Tonali and Fernandes will be the main men in the middle once the season begins.
Richarlison has also offered up a strange transfer situation. The Brazilian has just 12 months left on the original contract he signed when he joined Spurs back in 2022, that same summer of Conte's vomit-inducing tour.
The striker was Tottenham's top scorer last season and again showed his goal-sniffing ability with the 92nd minute strike after Jamie Donley's effort hit the post on Saturday night.
His last-gasp strike came after a first club goal for Tonali, an equaliser for Chelsea's Estevao and a clumsy 48th minute red card for Kevin Danso just three minutes after coming off the bench.
De Zerbi is unsure what will come next for Richarlison.
"I don't know, because I like him as a player, as a guy, it's unbelievable the attitude and behaviour, but at the end we have to respect what he wants to do," he told football.london.
"We know, every one of us knows what he wants to do, but for me he's still an important player, because it's not so easy to find another striker like Richarlison, because Richarlison scores goals and he knows the way.
"The new striker, we don't know. The other striker, we don't know. Richarlison scored 12 goals last season, not through luck, because he feels the way to score."
Despite seeming to indicate that he knows what the Brazilian wants to do, when asked by football.london if Richarlison wants to leave the club, the Spurs boss indicated the forward keeps changing his mind.
"I don't know, I didn't understand well, because sometimes he said to stay, sometimes he leave," said the Italian. "We have to speak anyway, there is not any problem, he's a lovely guy.
"All of us love him, the team-mates, the club, the staff, because he works hard every day, seriously every day, and we can't say anything on the pitch."
It's worth noting that De Zerbi spoke about two new forwards again when discussing Richarlison and the weeks ahead will bring changes to the attacking department.
Saturday's match came with a Spurs debut for Van Hecke, who looked composed enough apart from allowing Jamie Gittens just too much space to cross for the Chelsea goal.
Worse though was Andy Robertson's defending as that ball came into the box. The Scot appeared to think that either he was on his own or the deflected cross was heading out of play. He turned and started to move in a different direction, allowing Estevao a free run in to head home.
The experienced left-back had another switch-off moment when he chested a ball back in his box straight to Joao Pedro but the Brazilian was denied by Antonin Kinsky. With Destiny Udogie still having issues in playing back-to-back matches, Robertson is hopefully getting his gaffes out of his system in pre-season.
Czech goalkeeper Kinsky was superb in his first 90 minutes of the tour, with a string of saves and confident passing with his feet.
Being installed as De Zerbi's number one was just the first step though for the 23-year-old. His head coach wants much more from him.
"I think he can improve in build-up a lot. A lot, but he will reach, for sure, the top" said De Zerbi. "Working with the goalkeeper coach and me, we [will] create the training just for him to better understand the free player, to understand better everything he needs.
"He is very clear with the pass, but he can become faster in the decision in build-up. He has all qualities to become one of the best, also in in the build up, the distribution."
Another player that De Zerbi believes can be one of the best is Archie Gray. The 20-year-old, like Bergvall, will find his minutes impacted by the £185million arrival of Tonali and Fernandes However, the former Leeds man has versatility in his corner, even if he is not keen to become Tottenham's new Eric Dier.
Gray, despite his age, captained Tottenham in all three games of the club's tour, regardless of the older players named in the team. De Zerbi explained that it was something he felt the player needed and it was likely also a test to see how Gray reacted.
The youngster, who played at right-back and later in midfield across the full 90 minutes on Saturday, and won an important header that led to the winning goal that Spurs and De Zerbi celebrated like it was a Premier League game. The Italian wants that winning habit to be formed regardless of the circumstances.
There was irony in the fact that Sydney Super Cup was a cup without a cup. Spurs went home potless after the friendly competition.
Gray took it all in his stride on Saturday, even if that stride meant marching away from his little mascot before kick-off as the two teams shook hands.
New to this captaincy lark, Gray forgot he had someone beside him and Kinsky had to make another save, giving the child a little prod to catch up with the midfielder, who by this point was halfway down the line of Chelsea stars.
"I spoke with Ben Davies before speaking with Archie Gray because he is the natural captain. I think it has been more important for Archie than Ben," said De Zerbi.
"It is to give Archie something more for confidence. Last season I said he is the future of the club but also the present. He is important for us because he can cover two or three positions on the pitch."
He added: "He doesn't love too much to play right-back, but I think to be a captain you have to think first for the group, team, club and then yourself.
"It was something more to give him because he deserves to be important for this club, even if he plays in different positions, even if not in the first eleven. It's important. Like Bergvall because for Lucas I have the same opinion, the same idea."
De Zerbi was also grateful to the young academy players who have been so important on this tour. Midfielders Tye Hall and Rio Kyerematen have been exemplary in filling in as full-backs, able to invert when called upon because of their natural central tendencies.
Kyerematen almost scored the goal of the tour when he turned cleverly on the halfway line from Gray's pass before sprinting up the pitch for Tottenham's 10 men and launched a shot from 25 yards that struck the top of the crossbar and bounced over.
Donley again showed his ability in the midfield and was involved in the winning goal while Mikey Moore has got minutes, even if the 18-year-old's slightly subdued performances are likely to result in a loan with the wingers yet to arrive.
The same is likely for Mason Melia, who is understood to have had interest from a remarkable 30 clubs across Europe about a loan move and is expected to head out in the coming week, with a Championship move a strong possibility.
Luca Williams-Barnett looks like being the go-to academy attacker for the season ahead after impressing during the tour. He cannot go out on loan until he turns 18 which means the January window at the earliest and he could benefit from the exodus of older youth.
Likewise Malachi Hardy has done his cause no harm at all with his performances at centre-back in the absence of the injured Jun'ai Byfield.
"I'm so happy for the young players because Malachi, Rio, Tye, Kota [Takai]. They have been in this period very important for us, very good players," said De Zerbi.
It is a time of change for everyone at Tottenham with new ways of working and new voices signalling the way forward.
The club's busy transfer market shows no sign of cooling down with De Zerbi keen to keep publicly stoking the flames. This pre-season tour was the first exercise in keeping the Italian happy.
He's earned that after saving Spurs and his impact on the players has been widely felt so far. He treats them like they are all his sons and it's exactly what the club needed after a fragmented season.
Tottenham Hotspur are daring to dream again, they're growing closer once more within their walls and now the hard work truly begins.
