Tottenham's Squad Transformation Under De Zerbi
James Maddison watches another friend walk out of the Tottenham door. The squad is changing fast under Roberto De Zerbi, and Manor Solomon is the latest casualty of the reset.
De Zerbi’s ruthless rebuild
Tottenham’s summer has been anything but quiet. De Zerbi has wasted no time reshaping the dressing room, pulling in Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson as he stamps his identity on a side still searching for a new era.
Pre-season has offered encouragement. Spurs are unbeaten, the mood around the club lighter than it has been for some time. But everyone knows those games don’t count for points, and the real judgement starts on Saturday, 22 August, when Brentford arrive to open the Premier League campaign.
To get there, De Zerbi has had to trim. Will Lankshear, Luka Vuskovic and Radu Dragusin have already gone, the manager openly acknowledging that the squad is bloated for a team without European football. In a continental campaign, this group might make sense. In a domestic-only season, it simply doesn’t.
So another departure was always coming.
Solomon’s short Spurs story ends in East London
Manor Solomon’s time at Tottenham never really caught fire in North London. Three years after joining the club, he leaves permanently for Championship side West Ham United, taking a step down in division but not in stature, given the size and expectation that comes with the Hammers.
On paper, his Spurs career is a footnote: just six senior appearances. On the training ground and in the dressing room, it seems to have been something else entirely.
James Maddison made that clear with a farewell message on his Instagram stories on 10 August, sending a warm nod to a teammate who never quite got his run.
“Wish you the best of luck, mate! One of the nicest chaps I’ve ever come across, and helluva player as well! SSG King!” he wrote.
The talent was never in doubt. Solomon’s best football in England came not in a Spurs shirt but during a loan spell at Leeds United in the 2024-25 season. There, he finally found rhythm and responsibility, returning 10 goals and 13 assists in 41 games and reminding everyone why he was so highly regarded when he first arrived.
Now he heads back into the Championship, this time with West Ham, an Israeli international carrying genuine goodwill from a fanbase that barely saw him but clearly appreciated him. For a player with so few minutes in white, that says plenty.
Maddison’s own race against time
While Maddison waves goodbye to Solomon, his own situation is far from settled. The 29-year-old playmaker returned to the pitch late in the 2025-26 campaign, a welcome sight for a side that leans heavily on his craft between the lines. Since then, though, he has disappeared again from view.
He has not featured in pre-season, with De Zerbi confirming that Maddison has suffered a minor setback. Not a crisis, but not ideal either, especially with the season opener closing in.
The timing could hardly be worse for Spurs. Dejan Kulusevski, Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus are all still sidelined, stripping the front line of much of its invention. Creativity, normally one of Tottenham’s calling cards, suddenly looks like a scarce resource.
Tonali and Fernandes offer one answer. Both midfielders see the game early, both carry a threat from distance and in the final third. They can score, they can drive a team up the pitch, and they may have to shoulder more responsibility than originally planned in the opening weeks.
Tottenham should cope. On paper, at least. But De Zerbi did not come to North London to merely cope, and Maddison remains one of the Premier League’s most influential players when fit.
Solomon has gone, the squad has shifted, and the system is being rebuilt at pace. The next big question at Spurs is no longer who leaves or who arrives.
It’s whether James Maddison is on the teamsheet when Brentford walk out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
