Tottenham parted ways with manager Igor Tudor over the weekend and moved quickly to secure his first choice to replace him, former Marseille manager Roberto de Zerbi.
Roberto De Zerbi has agreed to join Spurs (Image: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Roberto De Zerbi has agreed to become Tottenham’s next manager. The Italian manager is Spurs’ first choice to replace Igor Tudor, and negotiations have now concluded.
The Times reported that a five-year contract has been agreed and will be announced within 24 hours. De Zerbi left Marseille in February and will now focus on avoiding relegation from the Premier League.
Spurs have not won in 13 games and are in 17th place, one point above the relegation zone. De Zerbi’s contract includes a huge bonus payable if Spurs avoid relegation to the Championship.
Negotiations are understood to have centered on the composition of the coaching staff, with consideration given to including someone familiar with the club. De Zerbi’s annual salary is reported to be between £12m and £15m, making him the third-highest paid player in the Premier League after Pep Guardiola (£20m) and Mikel Arteta (£15m).
This comes after Tudor replaced Thomas Frank and was in charge for just 44 days, picking up just one point in the league.
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Former Monaco manager Adi Hütter, German coaches Edin Terzic and Marco Rose, two-time interim head coach Ryan Mason, former Tottenham striker Robbie Keane and former Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche were among the candidates. But for CEO Vinay Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange, De Zerbi was always the frontrunner.
Spurs’ hierarchy are under huge pressure to make the right choice after overseeing a disastrous campaign. With the international break and the FA Cup quarter-finals, a competition Spurs no longer taking part in, taking place this weekend, they have decided to change managers again due to a huge gap in their schedule.
De Zerbi’s first game as manager will be away to Sunderland on April 12th. Spurs are without a win in the Premier League in 2026, with five draws and eight defeats in their last 13 games. Tudor’s last game in charge was a 3-0 home defeat to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest on 22 March.
Robert de Zerbi last managed Brighton in the Premier League (Image: Getty Images)
During his time in charge, Tudor only picked up a point from a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield, with his only win coming against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, which was not enough to overturn a first-leg deficit.
De Zerbi will return to the Premier League after managing Brighton from 2022 to 2024. After replacing Graham Potter in September 2022, De Zerbi led the Seagulls to sixth place in his first season before finishing 11th in 2023/24.
He left Brighton by mutual consent in the summer of 2024 and moved to Marseille, where he won 39 of his 69 games. The 46-year-old left the French giants in February after a heavy 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and their exit from the Champions League at the hands of Club Brugge.
He led Marseille to second place in Ligue 1 in his first season, leaving the team in fourth place.
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