Tottenham have completed the signing of Andy Robertson from Liverpool on a free transfer as Roberto De Zerbi seeks to rebuild the squad after the trauma of their brush with relegation from the Premier League.
De Zerbi said after his team had stayed up on the final day of the season with a home win over Everton that he had “10, 11, 12 players good enough to stay;” also that “we have now to change too many players”. Robertson has become the first addition as the Italian seeks to address the leadership vacuum in the dressing-room that undermined the previous campaign.
Spurs tried and failed to sign Robertson in January but they have got the deal done now and without having to pay a fee, the left-back’s contract at Liverpool having expired after nine hugely-successful seasons with the club. Robertson is the captain of Scotland and is preparing for the World Cup with them.
“Andy is someone I’ve admired for a number of years and he will bring outstanding technical qualities, experience, leadership and mentality to our team,” De Zerbi said. “He is a proven winner at the highest level over a long period and is someone who can be a big player for us, both on and off the pitch.”
De Zerbi has spoken warmly about Cristian Romero, the Spurs captain, who missed the closing weeks of the season with a knee injury. But the Argentinian is not expected to remain at the club and none of Spurs’s players believe he will be with them once the summer transfer window has closed.
Micky Van de Ven, Romero’s central-defensive partner, has numerous suitors, with Liverpool among them, and De Zerbi is looking at two new players in the position – Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke of Brighton. Senesi is out of contract and Spurs have a deal in place for him. De Zerbi worked with van Hecke when he was the Brighton manager.
Spurs are also chasing Savinho from Manchester City while they have an interest in Fulham’s Harry Wilson. João Palhinha, who has been on loan at Spurs from Bayern Munich, wants to stay.
Meanwhile, an American investment group led by tech entrepreneur and former DJ Brooklyn Earick has claimed to have agreed a deal to buy former chairman Daniel Levy’s 24.99% stake in Spurs.
Levy, who still owns 29.88% of Tottenham’s parent company, Enic Sports and Development Holdings Limited, despite being forced off the board last September, has been in talks with numerous parties over selling his shares for some time and Eight Sports Capital released a statement on Friday declaring they have agreed to purchase them. Eight Sports Capital are owned by Triller, an American entertainment company that specialise in combat sports including bare-knuckle fighting, and led by Earick, whose hostile takeover attempt was unequivocally rejected by Tottenham’s owners last year.
“We are delighted to have signed this agreement to acquire a significant stake in Enic,” a spokesperson for Eight Sports Capital said. “We look forward to working with the club’s shareholders, management, staff, players and fans to support Tottenham Hotspur’s continued growth and success.”
Sources close to Levy declined to confirm the sale had been agreed, while representatives of the Lewis family who own Tottenham through Enic claimed to be in the dark. Tottenham also declined to comment.
Any sale to Eight Sports Capital could have significant ramifications for Tottenham, and set up a potential power battle for ultimate control of the club.
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