Roberto De Zerbi to become Tottenham Hotspur manager as surprising contract length revealed: report

A contract proposal has been put to Italian head coach Roberto De Zerbi to take the reins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium according to reports in Italy.

The 46-year-old is expected to accept the offer of a five-year deal at Spurs in due course, with the team currently teetering on the brink of the Premier League’s relegation places.

Tottenham are one point and one position above the drop zone having endured a disastrous campaign. Thomas Frank’s appointment last summer did not go according to plan, whilst interim hire Igor Tudor managed just one point from five games at the helm before departing by mutual consent over the weekend.

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Roberto De Zerbi mulling over Spurs’ contract offer

Spurs were beaten 3-0 by Nottingham Forest last time out ahead of the March international break, during which time an approach was made to the currently out-of-work De Zerbi.

The Italian was most recently in charge at Olympique de Marseille in France, leading the team to a second place finish and Champions League football in Ligue 1 last season.

Sean Dyche has also been in the picture to replace Tudor in North London but it now looks set to be De Zerbi who leads Spurs for the final seven games of this season, at least.

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As per Gianluca Di Marzio, De Zerbi is mulling over the five-year contract proposal put forward by Spurs and a decision is expected imminently.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, such a lengthy contract is a gamble given the realistic chance Spurs could find themselves in the Championship next season.

The offer presented to De Zerbi is hardly likely to be anything other than lucrative, given the weakened negotiating position Tottenham find themselves in, therefore a five-year commitment represents a considerable financial outlay.

Roberto De Zerbi at Marseille (Image credit: Getty Images)

De Zerbi is by no means a survival expert, either, and has been known to be somewhat divisive at previous clubs.

His style of play also has the potential to see Tottenham’s weak underbelly exposed, although his fundamentals and principles of play should at least see the team approve in the attacking half of the pitch.

Spurs’ remaining fixtures this season are as follows: Sunderland (a), Brighton (h), Wolves (a), Aston Villa (a), Leeds United (h), Chelsea (a) and Everton (h).