Roberto De Zerbi's Spurs Era Begins Amid Injury Concerns
Roberto De Zerbi’s new Spurs era starts under an injury cloud
Tottenham have spent the summer making noise. Now comes the part that counts.
On Saturday evening, at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium, Roberto De Zerbi walks out for his first full Premier League campaign in charge of Spurs, backed by a staggering £237million overhaul of his squad and burdened by a familiar problem: too many key players are either missing, managing knocks or racing the clock.
After back-to-back 17th-place finishes, the club has drawn a line in the sand. The Italian has been hired to drag Tottenham into a new phase, one built on aggressive football and heavyweight recruitment. The fixture list, though, offers little sympathy. Brentford away is a nasty opening assignment for a side still piecing itself together.
Big spend, big doubts
The headline figure in the window screams ambition, but De Zerbi’s team sheet may tell a more cautious story.
Micky van de Ven, fresh from signing a lucrative new contract, has not played a single minute of pre-season. The Dutch defender was granted extended leave after the World Cup and has not yet appeared in training pictures this week. The club have not disclosed the exact issue, but his absence on Tuesday raised obvious alarm ahead of the trip across London.
There was at least some relief on the pitches at Hotspur Way. Destiny Udogie, James Maddison and Mateus Fernandes all trained before the opener, offering De Zerbi a glimmer of balance in a squad that has spent too long in the treatment room.
Udogie, though, remains a major doubt. A run of muscular problems has forced Spurs to handle him carefully all summer, and he did not feature at all in pre-season. The left-back is central to how De Zerbi wants to attack. Rushing him now would risk repeating last year’s chaos.
Maddison’s situation is similar. The England international, a leading contender to take the captain’s armband after Cristian Romero’s departure, is still working his way back to full sharpness following an anterior cruciate ligament injury that ended his campaign last season. He has been back in training, but his involvement against Brentford is far from guaranteed.
Up front, Dominic Solanke is another concern. The striker, 28, has been used sparingly in pre-season after a wretched run of injuries. An ankle problem wiped out most of last year, and a hamstring issue kept him out of the relegation run-in. De Zerbi wants him as a focal point; the medical team may have other ideas.
Midfield muscle and attacking dilemmas
The club’s marquee summer arrival, Fernandes, signed from West Ham for £85m, has also had a disrupted start. A calf problem picked up during Spurs’ pre-season tour of New Zealand and Australia has limited his involvement. The hope inside the camp is that he will be available for selection at Brentford, but De Zerbi has been notably conservative with anyone carrying a knock, scarred by the injury crisis that wrecked last season.
That caution almost certainly extends to Mohammed Kudus. The winger is back in training but has not played a competitive minute since January after a serious quad injury. Throwing him straight into a high-intensity Premier League opener would be a huge gamble, and one De Zerbi is unlikely to take.
Without Kudus, the door could swing open for Mikey Moore on the right flank. The highly rated youngster is expected to leave on loan before the window closes, but only once Spurs land their own attacking targets. For now, he sits in limbo, waiting to see whether opportunity or a temporary exit arrives first.
That uncertainty is amplified by the club’s protracted pursuit of Savinho. Tottenham have chased the Manchester City winger all summer without finding a breakthrough. With no agreement in sight, De Zerbi may have to lean on Moore sooner than planned.
There are lighter concerns over Pedro Porro. The World Cup-winning right-back has only recently rejoined full training. He is not injured, but his match sharpness and fitness remain in question, another fine judgment call for the manager on the eve of the season.
Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert and Dejan Kulusevski are not part of the conversation at all. All three remain long-term absentees.
How Spurs could line up
Amid all the uncertainty, a likely shape has emerged.
Tottenham’s predicted XI at Brentford: Kinsky; Gray, Van Hecke, Senesi, Robertson; Fernandes, Tonali; Moore, Gallagher, Tel; Richarlison.
It is an aggressive, technical side, but one that leans heavily on players who have had disrupted summers or are still learning each other’s movements. De Zerbi wants his team to dominate the ball and suffocate opponents. To do that from day one, with this many doubts, is a stern ask.
Injured: Simons, Odobert, Kulusevski
Doubts: Maddison, Solanke, Porro, Fernandes, Udogie, Kudus
Kick-off is at 5.30pm BST on Saturday, August 22, 2026, live on Sky Sports from the Gtech Community Stadium.
Tottenham have spent big, talked big and hired a manager with a big idea of how they should play. Now comes Brentford away, the Premier League, and a simple question: can this rebuilt, patched-up squad hit the ground running, or will the new era start with the same old problems?
