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Roberto De Zerbi has revealed how he convinced Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali to join Tottenham this summer.
Spurs secured the shock double signing of Fernandes and Tonali for a combined £185million earlier this month.
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Tottenham broke their club transfer record to bring Fernandes to the club for £85m from relegated London rivals West Ham before quickly moving to trump that figure by splashing £100m on Tonali from Newcastle.
Spurs’ aggressive spending has taken the Premier League by storm, particularly given the club narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship on the final day of the season.
Fernandes and Tonali both had options elsewhere, so their decision to pick Spurs took many by surprise.
Spurs boss De Zerbi has been credited with convincing the pair to join the club, and he admitted the scale of the project at Spurs was well suited to Tonali’s ambitions.
“To want to convince one player, I have to be able to come inside their head,” De Zerbi said.
“Tonali was very young when he started to play in Brescia and was a leader, and I think Tonali needs to play in a big club with big motivation.
“For Mateus Fernandes, it is a crucial part of his career because he needs a particular style of play to show all his qualities.”
Spurs have made six summer signings, with Jan Paul Van Hecke, Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka forming the backbone of a comprehensive rebuild.
On Van Hecke, who is set to join up with the rest of the Spurs squad imminently following his £55m move from Brighton, De Zerbi described the Dutch centre-half as “like a son”.
“Van Hecke is like my son because I worked with him for two seasons at Brighton. I know him very well as a character, a personality, as a leader.”
Spurs returned to pre-season training two weeks ago, and will play their first friendly of the summer when they take on MK Dons at Hotspur Way on Wednesday evening.
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