Tottenham Hotspur have spent more than £300 million rebuilding their squad and begun the Premier League season by failing to score in three consecutive matches.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side collected their first point of the campaign with a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, following defeats by Brentford and Newcastle United.

Spurs lost those opening fixtures 3-0 and 2-0 respectively, leaving their new-look squad with one point, five goals conceded and no goals scored after 270 minutes of league football.

They also failed to register a shot on target against Forest.

The hosts believed they had scored in the second half when Neco Williams forced the ball over the line, but VAR advised referee Craig Pawson to disallow the goal for handball. The intervention allowed Tottenham to secure their first clean sheet and ensured their first point arrived through the removal of an opposition goal.

Tottenham completed nine summer signings as part of a squad overhaul costing more than £300 million. Headline attacking additions Savio and Omar Marmoush started together for the first time against Forest, while Mykhailo Mudryk made his debut from the bench.

Dominic Solanke was also introduced during the second half. None of the available combinations altered the goals column.

The previous Tottenham team to begin a league season with three matches and no goals played in 1974-75. Spurs opened that campaign with three successive 1-0 defeats and eventually finished 19th in the First Division, one position above the relegation places.

De Zerbi has maintained that the number of new arrivals means his players require time to develop relationships and understand his system. He described the Forest performance as an encouraging step despite its limited attacking return.

Tottenham’s rebuild has therefore already taken the club somewhere it has not been for 52 years.

It has taken them back to 1974.