Roberto De Zerbi is set to take on the sizeable task of keeping Tottenham in the Premier League after talks between the parties reached an advanced stage.
Spurs turned attention back to De Zerbi after Igor Tudor's departure on Sunday and, although it is understood the former Brighton boss initially preferred to wait until the summer to assess his options, he looks set to perform a U-turn and take over immediately.
Reports in De Zerbi’s homeland of Italy on Monday morning stated he was now willing to listen to Tottenham’s advances and had a five-year contract offer on the table, which would make the 46-year-old the club’s fourth head coach in the last 10 months.
De Zerbi has been linked with the Spurs vacancy for a number of years, firstly in 2023 and more recently over the last month after Thomas Frank left on 11 February, but a break until the end of the season had been expected after he left Marseille in the same week.
Tottenham therefore turned to Tudor as interim head coach, but his shambolic 44-day reign produced five defeats in seven matches alongside a catalogue of questionable tactical choices and only increased the realistic threat of a first relegation since 1977.
It forced Spurs into one final roll of the dice and, with fans’ favourite Mauricio Pochettino contracted to lead the United States at this summer’s World Cup, De Zerbi has profited from being the best and most viable candidate currently on the market.
Pochettino was asked on Monday if he had received any contact from Tottenham or Real Madrid, and told a press conference: "We have our full focus here on the World Cup.
"I think everyone knows that I am committed with the national team. I think there’s no a point to talk about the future. At the moment no (team) has approached."
First-team coach Bruno Saltor was tasked with taking training for the players not on international duty after Spurs moved on from Tudor on Sunday.
However, it is understood Tottenham expected a new head coach would be hired by the middle of this week to give them 10 days to prepare for the 12 April trip to Sunderland – and that is set to be De Zerbi.
The anticipated appointment will not be universally popular among Spurs fans, with three supporters groups on Friday having called for De Zerbi not to be hired due to his past comments on Marseille forward Mason Greenwood.
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 woman after images and videos were posted online.
The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges in February 2023, citing "a combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material that came to light", which meant there was "no longer a 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."
