De Zerbi has a “future £100m” star at Spurs who’s up there with Vuskovic

The focus for Tottenham Hotspur and Roberto De Zerbi in the next seven days is to avoid relegation from the Premier League in the next two matches.

Spurs play Chelsea and Everton in the final two games of the top-flight campaign and are fighting it out with West Ham United to avoid dropping into the Championship.

The Lilywhites have won two and drawn two of De Zerbi’s first five matches in charge of the club, which shows that he has got something out of the current group, which struggled under both Igor Tudor and Thomas Frank.

Whilst there is still a chance that Spurs are relegated to the Championship for the first time in the Premier League era, there will already be plans and talks going on behind the scenes about what the future holds in North London.

De Zerbi signed a long-term contract until the end of June 2031 and has not joined the club as a short-term appointment to guide the team away from danger.

Why Spurs will be better next season

Provided they avoid relegation, Spurs will be better next season than they have been in the last two years of fighting down near the bottom of the table in the Premier League.

Pundit Jay Bothroyd tipped them to finish in the top six in the 2026/27 campaign, and it is easy to understand why, because De Zerbi has never finished lower than 11th as a manager in a full season since 2018.

The Italian finished second with Marseille in the 2024/25 campaign and led Brighton to a sixth-placed finish in the 2022/23 season, which shows that he can adapt to new clubs and new countries to achieve success.

On top of that, De Zerbi is set to welcome centre-back Luka Vuskovic back to Spurs in the summer after his loan spell with Hamburg in the Bundesliga, and the defender could play a big role in the club’s improvement on the pitch.

The Croatia international caught the eye in the German top-flight with his immense dominance in duels and his ability to offer a goal threat from centre-back.

He made more clearances and won a higher percentage of his aerial duels than every single centre-back in the current Spurs squad, which suggests that he will improve De Zerbi’s options at the back.

The future Spurs star who is just as exciting as Luka Vuskovic

Vuskovic, however, is not the only exciting young player in the squad whose development could play a role in Tottenham being better in the Premier League next season.

Archie Gray is one year older than Vuskovic, at 20 years old, and has already racked up 80 appearances for Tottenham and 51 games played in the Premier League, having also played 52 matches for Leeds before his move to North London.

Only four players aged 20 or under have played more minutes in the Premier League this season than the versatile Spurs talent, which shows how far ahead he is of most of his peers.

Scout Ben Mattinson once described him as a “future £100m” central midfielder whilst he was at Leeds, and De Zerbi has already caught on to the 20-year-old star’s huge potential in North London.

Gray has shown signs of realising his potential in the Premier League this season, with two goals and two assists in 23 appearances, but he is still incredibly young and has a lot to learn, just like Vuskovic.

De Zerbi’s track record suggests that Spurs will push on and improve next term if they avoid relegation, and he has two future superstars in Vuskovic and Gray who could play starring roles in getting the club back to where they should be.

After two seasons of tough learning in a difficult environment, Gray could finally flourish at Spurs as a central midfielder next season if De Zerbi can get the team firing, which is why he is just as exciting as Vuskovic in North London.