The mood inside Tottenham Hotspur has undergone a transformation over the last six months.

When Roberto De Zerbi was appointed as head coach on a five-year contract in March, it looked like they were going to be relegated. Spurs had not won a game in 2026 and fans were grappling with the prospect of spending at least 12 months stuck in the Championship. However, De Zerbi turned their fortunes around and they survived after beating Everton 1-0 on the final day to finish 17th for the second consecutive season.

Spurs have been one of the biggest spenders in the transfer market this summer, as well as tying down some key players to long-term contracts. Excitement is building that De Zerbi can achieve something truly special.

Here, The Athletic looks at how Tottenham’s season might play out.

What are the expectations inside the club?

Nearly £250million (more than $330m) has been spent on six new signings and Spurs would like to add a couple more before the window closes, including Manchester City winger Savinho.

There is a lack of attacking options within the squad, especially because Wilson Odobert, Xavi Simons and Dejan Kulusevski are recovering from long-term knee injuries, but Spurs should be aiming for the top six.

Savinho has been a long-term target for Spurs (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Who have they signed?

The defence and midfield have been remodelled. Spurs broke their transfer record twice in a week to sign Mateus Fernandes for £85m and Sandro Tonali for £100m from West Ham United and Newcastle United.

Last season’s captain Cristian Romero has joined Atletico Madrid and has been replaced by Jan Paul van Hecke — signed from Brighton & Hove Albion — in central defence. Andy Robertson arrived from Liverpool as a free agent to provide competition for left-back Destiny Udogie but fan favourite Djed Spence left for Inter.

Micky van de Ven agreed a new long-term contract and will battle with new signing Marcos Senesi to start as the team’s left-sided centre-back. Antonin Kinsky’s promotion to first-choice goalkeeper allowed Guglielmo Vicario to pursue a loan move to Juventus, with an option to buy. That means Martin Dubravka will be Kinsky’s understudy after leaving Burnley when his contract expired in June.

Jan Paul van Hecke has been brought in to strengthen Spurs’ defence (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

If Spurs can complete a deal for Savinho and add another quality forward, they will have arguably had the most exciting summer window of any Premier League side this year.

What is their transfer priority before the window closes?

Spurs’ pursuit of Savinho has been well-documented but they probably need another centre-forward. Richarlison, last season’s top scorer (12 goals in all competitions), has played under five different head coaches since he joined Spurs in July 2022 and has never been a perfect fit. De Zerbi admitted earlier this month that the Brazil international “sometimes wants to leave”.

Dominic Solanke is talented but only made 15 appearances last season for a total of 1,000 minutes. The England international has started in under 50 per cent of the available league games (36 out of 76) since he arrived from Bournemouth in August 2024. Spurs need a striker who is consistently available and can carry out De Zerbi’s demands.

Solanke’s injury issues have prevented him from becoming a key player for Spurs (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

What else is new?

It is easy to forget that De Zerbi barely tinkered with the team’s tactics when he took over, as he focused on lifting their spirits following a miserable period under Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor.

There have been glimpses throughout pre-season of the intricate, risky build-up play that earned De Zerbi so many admirers during his two-year spell with Brighton. Kinsky is more suited to De Zerbi’s style than Vicario, so expect to see lots of nerve-inducing passes under pressure from him and Tottenham’s centre-backs inside their own penalty area.

What is the biggest lesson they learned last season?

Spurs were stung in the summer of 2025 by their failed pursuits of Bryan Mbeumo, Eberechi Eze, Antoine Semenyo and Morgan Gibbs-White. Former executive chairman Daniel Levy had a reputation for haggling over deals, sometimes allowing rival clubs to steal transfer targets from them. Spurs then gambled in January by signing only Conor Gallagher and Souza, now 20, when the team was in dire need of more help.

There has been a complete change of attitude this summer from chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange and recently appointed director of football operations Carlos Raphael Moersen. Spurs beat off competition from Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain to sign Fernandes, while Manchester City were interested in Tonali. But Spurs acted quickly to tie up those deals and secure Porro, Kinsky and Van de Ven to new contracts.

Spurs are finally throwing money around in a way they rarely have before.

Spurs outpaced rivals to sign Mateus Fernandes from West Ham (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Who’s been the best player in pre-season?

Lucas Bergvall has been exceptional despite the uncertainty over his future. The Athletic reported in June that the midfielder expressed a preference to move on but bids from Nottingham Forest and Newcastle were rejected. Bergvall has worked hard and has shown signs of building an exciting partnership with Tonali. Even so, it is unlikely he will start in Saturday’s league opener against Brentford because Fernandes has recovered from the minor injury that restricted his game time on the pre-season tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Luca Williams-Barnett, the 17-year-old attacking midfielder, has thrived and a tough decision needs to be made about whether he should stay with the first-team squad or head out on loan.

What are they worried about?

Mention injuries to anybody connected with Spurs and you will send a shiver down their spine. Fitness issues have played a huge part in Spurs recording back-to-back 17th-place finishes in the top flight. Three players tore their anterior cruciate ligaments last season, Kulusevski did not play a single minute and several other squad members suffered muscle problems.

Dan Lewindon joined as performance director in February and has instigated changes that will hopefully help them avoid another injury crisis but there are concerns about the limited involvement of Van de Ven, Udogie, Solanke and Mohammed Kudus in pre-season.

Dejan Kulusevski has not featured for Spurs since May 2025 (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

How’s the manager feeling?

De Zerbi should be thrilled by Tottenham’s business this summer. Landing Fernandes and Tonali was extremely impressive, while Van Hecke and Van de Ven can reignite an excellent centre-back partnership that can be traced back to the Netherlands’ youth teams. As a bonus, Andrew Crofts has been appointed as De Zerbi’s assistant coach after they previously worked together on the south coast.

Romero, Spence and Vicario could have become distractions but Spurs have waved goodbye to them before the start of the new campaign. If Spurs sign a couple of attacking players, then they will have put everything in place for De Zerbi to succeed.

What’s the percentage chance of De Zerbi seeing out the season?

This should be a straightforward answer after the Italian’s rescue act last season. The 47-year-old has a huge amount of credit with supporters and a strong relationship with senior figures.

However, De Zerbi never sticks around for too long. He fell out with his bosses at Brighton over their recruitment strategy and left Marseille after they were knocked out of the Champions League. Hopefully, all of the ingredients are there for a fruitful, long-lasting relationship, but you never know.

Spurs fans are excited about how their club can progress under De Zerbi (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

I wouldn’t be surprised if…

Spurs gatecrashed the top four. They have struggled over the last few years to juggle domestic competitions with Europe but they do not have that dilemma this season. In theory, players will feel refreshed and coaching staff will have more time to prepare for opponents.

Over the last 12 months, Spurs have cycled through three different head coaches, sacked their long-serving executive chairman, rehired Fabio Paratici only for him to leave after four months and had multiple parties express an interest in taking over from the majority shareholders, the Lewis family.

There is never a dull day in north London. Quite frankly, anything could happen.

What is their strongest XI?

4-2-3-1: Antonin Kinsky; Pedro Porro, Jan Paul van Hecke, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie; Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali; Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, Mathys Tel; Dominic Solanke.

There are painful losses, and then there is what the Seattle Mariners experienced Tuesday with a 22-0 thrashing by the league-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

Seattle, which entered play with a minus-23 run differential, walked out of American Family Field with a minus-45 mark that would rank as the third best in what has been an ignominious American League West division.

The 22 runs allowed by four Mariners pitchers, one of whom was a position player, tied for the most given up by a Seattle club in franchise history. On the other side, the Brewers’ 22 runs tied the record for the most scored in their franchise history.

As is usually the case, the history didn’t end there, either.

Tuesday’s drubbing tied for the largest shutout win since the start of 1888. To find a bigger margin of victory, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, you’d have to go back to June 28, 1887, when the Philadelphia Quakers dismantled the Indianapolis Hoosiers to the tune of 24-0.

The largest by a team at home?

Well, that honor goes to the 1885 New York Giants, whose 24-0 pummeling of the Buffalo Bisons has stood the test of time.

Only two other teams — the 2004 Cleveland Indians and 1975 Pittsburgh Pirates — have matched a shutout of Tuesday’s magnitude, with equal 22-0 hammerings of the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs, respectively.

It was a big night for Luis Lara and the Milwaukee Brewers. (Aaron Gash / Associated Press)

In all, 12 Brewers players reached the plate 50 times at American Family Field; only one (Brice Turang) did not record a hit. Each of them, however, managed to reach base at least once, combining for an even 22 hits and 22 runs scored. Four players hit a home run, including rookie Luis Lara, who clubbed his first long ball as part of a 3-for-6 evening.

Tuesday’s contest wasn’t an immediate blowout. In fact, through the first four innings, the biggest source of noise was a tornado warning for Milwaukee County, as the Brewers were held to just one run on four hits. The dam burst in the fifth, and runs continued to pour in during each of the next four innings, including nine in the bottom of the eighth, when a hapless Leo Rivas was tasked with getting the Mariners back to their team hotel.

Julio Rodriguez forgot how many outs there were and gifted the Brewers their 21st run of the night pic.twitter.com/GiCBX6ABxu

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 19, 2026

As if things weren’t already bleak, Milwaukee was gifted its 21st run after Julio Rodríguez forgot how many outs there were in the bottom of the eighth. Seattle’s center fielder turned a routine fly ball — and just the second out of the inning — into a souvenir for fans, allowing one more Brewer to score on what was originally a sacrifice fly.

The helplessness by Seattle also extended to its lineup, as the Mariners were unable to cash in a single run against Gary Sánchez, who completed the shutout as a position player pitching. The Mariners lineup was limited to just five hits, striking out 10 times against four walks.

For the Brewers, it was business as usual for the club that leads MLB with a 78-48 record with 36 games left to play. On the other side, it was more misery for the Mariners. Last year’s AL West champions have now dropped seven of their last 10 games. At 59-67, they sit four games back of the Houston Astros in the AL West and three back of the AL’s third and final wild-card spot.

The schedule won’t lighten up for Seattle for a bit; the club still has two games remaining against the Brewers before playing host to the Chicago Cubs (74-53, first in the NL wild card) and the Philadelphia Phillies (69-58, second in the NL wild card). From there, the Mariners will hit the road against the resurgent Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays to close out August.

If there is any consolation, it’s the fact that the rest of the AL West has been equally futile. The Astros’ 63-63 record is the highest mark in the division, and every club is at least minus-32 runs or worse in run differential.

The youngest player to pick up sustained minutes for Leeds United last season was Brenden Aaronson. The American turns 26 in October.

In a promoted team fighting to buck the recent trend of immediate relegation, Daniel Farke did not want to risk inexperienced players. Recruitment was focused on the 25-to-28-year-old bracket.

This pre-season, with senior figures returning late or leaving for pastures new, academy players have made up the numbers. The expectation, however, is that once transfers and injuries settle down, there will be little room for inexperienced players.

The Leeds squad has at least two seasoned options in virtually every position. The one department where stars could align is at left wing-back, where Leeds have a vacancy and, arguably, their brightest youth prospect. United need to recruit a backup for Gabriel Gudmundsson, who is injured and likely to miss the start of the Premier League season.

James Justin can, and likely will, moonlight at left wing-back, but he is right-footed and better suited to filling in for Jayden Bogle on the right.

It just so happens that Jayden Lienou, the now-18-year-old left-back they took from Manchester City last summer, is building up steam.

Jayden Lienou in action against Wrexham in Florida in July (Leonardo Fernandez/Getty Images)

Lienou graduated to United’s matchday squads in the league over the final weeks of last season, after a stellar first year with the under-21s, and then signed a new contract until 2029. The fact that he had only signed his first contract, to 2028, last summer underlines the impression he has made at Elland Road.

It should be stressed that the club is expected to recruit a more senior option to cover for Gudmundsson, but if anyone is going to break through, Lienou looks the most likely. His call-up to the senior Wales squad in May was telling, too.

Daniel James, who went up against Lienou in training for much of last season, was asked about his team-mate during that Wales camp. He told reporters: “He has been brilliant this season. We have been training against him a lot. He’s a great lad.

“It’ll be great for him this week to experience it, but it always helps to have a few familiar faces coming into camp, too. He thoroughly deserves it. He’s been great since he’s been here and great at Leeds. He’s definitely one for the future, a great player.”

Ethan Ampadu, his captain in West Yorkshire and another Wales international, told the media: “I see him day in and day out at Leeds, and I know the ability he’s got and the levels he can get to, but he’s a hard-working kid. He’s young, he’s got a lot to learn, but I’m sure he can.”

Farke has shown that if a player is good enough, they are old enough. Archie Gray, one of the finest academy graduates from Leeds in recent memory, was a mainstay in the 2023-24 season at 17 years old.

If Lienou shows Farke he can be trusted in the heat of the Premier League, the opportunities will be there. Regardless of what happens this season, Lienou is happy with his progress.

Speaking to the club’s official website after signing his new contract this summer, he said: “I’m probably further ahead than I thought I was going to be when I first signed for Leeds. When me and Scott (Gardner, under-21 head coach) sat down at the start of the season, we set some goals to get to certain situations, milestones in my career, and I’ve exceeded that.”

Gardner spoke about Lienou’s rapid development. He acknowledged that the 18-year-old was far better than what they already had at Thorp Arch when he arrived from City.

“The new faces like Jayden offer something completely different to what we had before and they complement the rest of the players, particularly the younger group coming up,” he told the club website. “We are excited to see where they can go.”

Gardner also said youth football would only take Lienou so far: “There comes a point where under-21s football provides a certain amount for the lads, but after that, they do need to go and experience senior games and they will be much better and more experienced as players and as people.

“We have also had six or seven lads around the first-team training group, so for them to be around Premier League footballers every single day can help them improve as players.”

As he continues to train with the first team, Lienou will hope he can make that leap.