Roberto De Zerbi is officially in the building for Tottenham Hotspur as their last throw of the dice to avoid Premier League relegation.
After parting ways with Igor Tudor by mutual consent, the North London outfit moved quickly to secure the Italian, who only left his role at Marseille last month.
De Zerbi has signed a five-year deal at Tottenham without a relegation clause, so he is well and truly here for the long haul.
A lot has been said about the former Brighton boss, who is no stranger to the Premier League.
And now, Adam Lallana, who played under him with the Seagulls, has revealed a handful of Tottenham players have been in touch with him to ask him about the mercurial Italian.
Tottenham told to expect a ‘rollercoaster’
Tottenham are winless in the Premier League in 2026 and are just a point above the drop zone. With West Ham United and Nottingham Forest faring a lot better in recent weeks, the prospect of relegation is looming large at N17.
Speaking on talkSPORT after De Zerbi’s move was confirmed, Lallana feels Tottenham will comfortably avoid relegation under his leadership.
“I just think they’re very, very fortunate. I’m actually slightly jealous. I was speaking to a player at Spurs who was picking my brains about him.
“I just know they’re going to be in for a rollercoaster, but a great one.”
The former Liverpool midfielder, who played the best football of his career at Southampton and then at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, went on to liken the Italian to the former Reds boss.
“I always compared him (De Zerbi) with Jurgen, actually,” Lallana continued.
“Probably just the passion that they both possess for the game.
“I think tactically and game mode-wise, they’re completely different. But in terms of love and passion for football, they’re exactly the same.”
Lallana tips De Zerbi to succeed at Tottenham
Tottenham don’t have enough time to adapt to De Zerbi’s brand of football as they need points on the board immediately.
And Lallana feels the former Brighton boss will be aware of what he’s walked into, describing De Zerbi as a ‘smart man’ who will change his tactics based on the need of the hour.
“Roberto’s an extremely smart man,” Lallana said.
“He’ll know he’s not got time to play a certain way, a certain style. He won’t be snobbish to not understand that. He knows he’s got to go in there and motivate a group of men.
“Luckily for Roberto, he might not know that but he’s one of the most inspirational managers and people there is, in my opinion.
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“After five minutes of him speaking in our first meeting when he joined Brighton, I was on board.”
De Zerbi’s first game in charge of Tottenham will be against Sunderland on April 12th. With just under two weeks to prepare for the game, he will have a fair amount of time to get to know his players and put them through their paces.
