Tottenham Spend £300m On A Team And Discover They Still Need One

Tottenham spent more than £300million rebuilding their squad this summer before beginning the Premier League season with Roberto De Zerbi explaining that they still do not have a team.

Spurs were beaten 3-0 by Brentford on Saturday in an opening-day performance which contained considerably less evidence of their transfer activity than the receipts suggested.

Sandro Tonali, Jan Paul van Hecke and other summer arrivals were involved as De Zerbi’s revamped side struggled from the start. Tottenham failed to register a shot on target in the first half and were comfortably beaten by goals from Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode.

The result came after a summer designed to ensure Tottenham would not repeat the previous two seasons, both of which ended with 17th-place finishes.

More than £300million has been spent strengthening the squad, including major deals for Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, as Spurs attempt to move considerably further away from the relegation battle De Zerbi inherited last season.

Twenty-four hours before facing Brentford, De Zerbi had defended that level of investment and argued that spending was necessary for Tottenham to compete with the Premier League’s biggest clubs.

After the match, the problem had changed.

“We are not a team yet,” De Zerbi said, criticising both Tottenham’s physical condition and their lack of fight.

He then identified something the summer recruitment department had been unable to purchase.

“You can’t become a team from the transfer market on paper.”

De Zerbi said Tottenham still needed connection, spirit and a soul, with several new players having had limited time to work together following a disrupted pre-season and the World Cup.

None of that means Tottenham’s spending has failed after one match. A heavily changed squad requires time, and further additions are still expected before the transfer window closes.

The first £300million has at least established who the players are.

Tottenham can now begin work on the team.