Roberto De Zerbi looks like the chosen one at Tottenham Hotspur as they continue to work towards appointing a manager to succeed Igor Tudor.
Multiple sources have confirmed that he is close to signing a five-year deal at the club to take over the reigns immediately, with Tottenham’s next Premier League game against Sunderland on April 12th set to be his first game at the club.
De Zerbi initially had inhibitions about joining Tottenham, but a bumper salary coupled with a long-term contract seems to have led to a change of heart.
His arrival at Hotspur Way is a matter of when rather than if, which has led to a lot of chatter on social media.
And Gabby Agbonlahor didn’t hold back with his assessment of the former Brighton boss, who is no stranger to the Premier League.
Agbonlahor not a fan of De Zerbi at Tottenham
Sean Dyche was also on Tottenham’s radar, but it appears as if they have convinced De Zerbi, who was initially reluctant to start another job during the current campaign.
Agbonlahor feels the Italian’s fiery nature isn’t the right fit for the club currently, with the players desperately devoid of confidence as they remain winless in the Premier League in 2026.
“You don’t need a hot head like De Zerbi to come in now and upset players again. The whole thing is embarrassing,” said Agbonlahor on talkSPORT.
“You’ve won the Europa League, you’ve got an amazing stadium, you bring in a top manager like Thomas Frank, who doesn’t work.
“Now, if they name another manager, they’d have had more managers this season than home wins. De Zerbi might work out, but he might upset them [the players] even more.”
Agbonlahor’s logic doesn’t hold good
Tottenham fan groups did a ‘Say No To De Zerbi’ protest due to the Italian publicly supporting Mason Greenwood during his court case. Now, if that was one of the reasons cited by Agbonlahor, it would have been easier to get on board with him.
In fact, another point worth noting is that he doesn’t have the required experience to successfully negotiate a relegation battle, something Dyche has in abundance.
The point Agbonlahor made about upsetting the players doesn’t make sense in the slightest. To be brutally honest, most of the players need to have a strong, hard look at themselves for the way they’ve fared this season and their current squad is good enough to secure European qualification, let alone just avoid the drop.
Read More: Roberto De Zerbi to Tottenham is truly a terrible idea from a moral and footballing standpoint
In that sense, De Zerbi’s no-nonsense attitude could be just what the doctor ordered, although he won’t have too much time to get his ideas through to his players.
Tottenham have taken a massive risk by offering to make him one of the highest-paid managers in the Premier League on a five-year deal. If this goes wrong, it could prove to be a catastrophic decision for the future of the club.
No pressure, Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham…
