Roberto de Zerbi's Demands at Tottenham: Pride in the Shirt

Roberto de Zerbi has been in the job only a few months, but his message to Tottenham’s dressing room is already brutally simple: if you’re not proud to wear the shirt, pack your bags.

The Italian, who arrived in late March and dragged Spurs away from the relegation trapdoor, used the club’s pre-season tour of New Zealand to draw a sharp line in the sand – with Lucas Bergvall’s future sitting right on it.

De Zerbi draws the line

Tottenham have already turned down a £38m bid from Nottingham Forest for Bergvall, and Forest are preparing to come back with £45m. For a 20-year-old who barely featured at the back end of last season, that is serious money and serious pressure.

De Zerbi, though, framed the situation in emotional terms rather than financial ones.

“I said, who doesn't want to stay in Tottenham? Who is not happy, is not proud to stay here, has to leave,” he said before Sunday’s friendly against Auckland FC in New Zealand.

He wants players who run out at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with “big motivation”, players for whom the badge still means something. In his eyes, in modern football – and even at World Cup level – motivation is the thin edge that separates success from failure.

“The motivation is to be happy to stay in one team,” he said. For De Zerbi, that is non-negotiable.

Bergvall at a crossroads

Bergvall’s story at Spurs is barely written. Signed from Djurgarden in 2024, he arrived as one of Europe’s more intriguing young midfielders. He started De Zerbi’s very first game in charge, a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, then slipped to the fringes – four substitute appearances, limited minutes, and a growing sense of uncertainty.

Since then, the landscape around him has changed dramatically.

Tottenham have gone all-in on their midfield rebuild, landing Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United for £100m and Mateus Fernandes from West Ham for £85m. Two heavyweight arrivals, two more obstacles between Bergvall and a starting place.

“There will be a big competition to play because at the end, I think we will be two players for each position,” De Zerbi said. That is the plan: depth, quality, and no guarantees.

He has not yet sat down with Bergvall, but that conversation is coming.

“I have not spoken with Lucas yet. I will in the next days and we will make the best decision for the club, for Lucas, for me, for every one of us, without problems. Lucas is a big, big talent.”

The choice feels stark. Stay and fight in a crowded midfield, or leave and play. De Zerbi is relaxed about either outcome.

“If he wants to stay, I will be happy. Otherwise, we have to find a new solution with Johan Lange, with Vinai Venkatesham. It's not my business after the decision to leave.”

For a young player courted by Premier League rivals and facing a stacked depth chart, this is a defining moment.

Squad taking shape, attack still to come

Bergvall is part of the travelling squad in New Zealand, but the group already looks very different to the one De Zerbi inherited.

Tottenham have bolstered the back line with Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi, adding aggression, experience and left-footed balance to a defence that creaked last season. The spine is being rebuilt piece by piece.

De Zerbi is not done.

“First of all, I think it's not finished yet, our transfer market window,” he said. “We have to finish, we have to bring another couple of, maybe more, maybe not less, but a couple of players.”

The priority now is clear: attacking positions. Spurs want more firepower, more unpredictability, more goals. The manager knows the back half of the pitch looks far more secure; the front half still needs sharpening.

Injuries and the long road back

While the recruitment drive continues, some of De Zerbi’s most important attacking weapons are still in the treatment room.

Mohammed Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski have stayed behind in London, working through the final stages of their long-term recoveries. Both are central to the club’s plans, both have been missed.

“Kudus is very close. I think when we come back to London he will be available to start working with us,” De Zerbi said. “It's a great thing for us. Kudus is another important player.”

Kulusevski’s situation is more delicate. After a full season without a single game, Tottenham know they cannot rush him.

“Kulusevski, we have to see in the next couple of weeks. He's another important player. After one season, one complete season, without a game, we have to analyse better and better, don't take risks, first of all for him and then for us.”

Those words hint at caution, but also at how central the Swede remains in De Zerbi’s thinking.

Xavi Simons and the pain of the game

If anyone at Tottenham understands the brutality of long-term injury, it is Xavi Simons.

The attacking midfielder tore his anterior cruciate ligament in April. The damage cost him the 2026 World Cup with the Netherlands and left him facing the darkest period of his young career.

“The first four days were the worst days of my life,” he told the club’s website.

He could not sleep. He barely ate for a week. The pain overwhelmed him – vomiting, dizziness, a body in shock.

“That pain, I don't wish no-one to go through that pain,” he said. “I don't know what it's like for other players but, for me, it was like my whole body was saying like 'what happened?'”

Now, he insists he is “happy and in a good place”, but his story is a reminder of the thin line every player walks. One twist, one fall, and everything changes.

As De Zerbi reshapes Tottenham with bold signings and blunt honesty, choices loom everywhere: for Bergvall, for the injured stars, for a squad being pushed to prove it truly wants to be here.

Those who embrace that demand will define what this new Spurs era looks like. Those who do not will soon find out how serious their manager really is.