Roberto De Zerbi was hired Tuesday as Tottenham’s third coach of the season in a last-ditch bid by one of England’s top clubs to avoid costly relegation from the Premier League.
The appointment came amid criticism from fans’ groups about the Italian coach’s past support of a player who was charged with — but not convicted of — offenses including attempted rape.
Tottenham, the reigning Europa League champion and an ever-present in England’s top division since 1978, is one point above the relegation zone in the Premier League with seven games left.
De Zerbi has replaced Igor Tudor, who was fired on Sunday after 44 days as interim coach. De Zerbi left Marseille in February and previously worked in the Premier League as Brighton’s manager.
De Zerbi signed a “long-term contract,” the team said.
“Our short-term priority is to climb the Premier League table, which will be the complete focus until the final whistle of the last game of the season,” De Zerbi said in the announcement.
Spurs sporting director Johan Lange added: “Roberto was our number one target for the summer and we are very pleased to be able to bring him in now.”
While at Marseille, De Zerbi coached former Manchester United striker Mason Greenwood, who was charged in October 2022 with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behavior, and assault after images and videos were posted online.
British prosecutors dropped the charges in February 2023 owing to a “combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses” and due to “no realistic prospect of conviction.”
De Zerbi said Greenwood was a “good guy” who “paid dearly for what happened.”
Women of the Lane, a club-affiliated women’s supporters’ group, questioned De Zerbi’s “judgment and leadership” because of the way he “publicly defended Mason Greenwood in a way that downplays the seriousness of male violence against women and girls” and it was “not an appointment Tottenham Hotspur should make.”
Proud Lilywhites, Tottenham’s LGBTQI supporter group, also had objected to De Zerbi’s arrival. It said the decision to appoint a coach “isn’t just about results or style of football. It’s about values, identity, and the kind of people we choose to represent us.”
“When someone in that position publicly defends a player like Mason Greenwood, and frames it in a way that downplays the seriousness of what happened, it matters, not just in isolation but in what it signals,” the group said.
Spurs Reach, the club’s official race, ethnicity and cultural heritage fans’ group, said De Zerbi’s “public remarks defending and contextualizing” Mason Greenwood “risks normalizing harmful attitudes, diminishing the experiences of survivors and sending a deeply concerning message about what is tolerated within the game.”
Tottenham is in big trouble
De Zerbi, a coach known for playing an attacking, high-risk, complex style of soccer, is another bold appointment by Tottenham with the team’s top-flight status on the line.
He is a well-respected tactician — doing admirably at Sassuolo in Italy and then at Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk, which he left in 2022 following Russia’s invasion — but is known to have a combustible edge to him.
De Zerbi takes over a club that is one of the biggest in England and reached the Champions League’s round of 16 this season, losing over two legs to Atletico Madrid.
However, Tottenham’s Premier League form has been woeful over the last two seasons. In the 2024-25 campaign, Spurs finished in 17th place — one above the the relegation zone — though that was partially due to focusing on the Europa League as they surged to the title.
This season, Tottenham hasn’t won a league game in 2026 and is coming off a 3-0 home loss to relegation rival Nottingham Forest before the international break.
Thomas Frank started the season as Tottenham’s manager before getting fired on Feb. 11. His replacement, Tudor, lasted just seven matches — losing five of them — before losing his job on Sunday to end his nightmarish month and a half in charge.
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