Soccer
Roberto De Zerbi is odds-on favourite to become Tottenham’s next manager
Roberto De Zerbi has been installed as the odds-on bookmakers favourite to take over at Tottenham amid reports in Italy he is now open to joining mid-season.
Spurs are on the hunt for a third manager of the campaign after Igor Tudor left his position as interim head coach on Sunday following five defeats in seven matches.
De Zerbi has been linked with the Spurs vacancy for a number of years, firstly in 2023 and more recently during the last month after Thomas Frank left on February 11, but the Italian had seemingly been eager to wait until the summer to assess his options.
However, reports in De Zerbi’s homeland of Italy have stated he is now willing to listen to Tottenham’s advances and has a five-year contract offer on the table.
Any appointment of De Zerbi would not be universally popular among the Spurs fanbase after three supporters groups on Friday called for De Zerbi not to be hired due to his past comments on Marseille forward Mason Greenwood.
Fan groups Proud Lilywhites, Women of the Lane and Spurs Reach all expressed their concerns with ‘No to De Zerbi’ statements.
Greenwood was charged in October 2022 with one count of attempted rape, one count of controlling and coercive behaviour and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm over allegations relating to a young women after images and videos were posted online.
The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges in February 2023 owing to a “combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses” and due to “no realistic prospect of conviction”. Greenwood has since resumed his career and joined Marseille in 2024.
In November when De Zerbi was Marseille boss, he described Greenwood as a “good guy” and added: “It saddens me what happened in his life, because I know a totally different person than the one who was described.”
