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Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi has totally shaken up the club to its core. After saving Spurs from Premier League relegation, De Zerbi has already brought in three top signings to Spurs in center back Jan Paul van Hecke (his old buddy from Brighton) and center midfielders Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali. All signed for nearly 250 million pounds together, this trio will immediately start and change the complexion of this club, particularly in possession and taking control of games.
As Tottenham consider their next moves in the summer market to strengthen their club even further, notable figures of the past like Peter Crouch, Louis Saha, and Harry Redknapp are already talking about Spurs being in contention to return to the Champions League next season and go from the bottom four to potentially the top four in the 2025/26 Premier League season.
In order to do that, though, De Zerbi has to remember that the key players in the squad behind the starters can be plenty important. Not just because Spurs are used to a lot of brutal injuries, but it is also because the Lilywhites want to compete at the highest level and need both other profiles and fresh legs off the bench to change games.
Archie Gray is still a factor for Tottenham
Although Spurs signed Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes for major money to start immediately and bagged two of the best midfielders in the Premier League in doing so, Spurs have a player behind them who has all the makings of becoming potentially even better than them one day.
Even when Spurs were at their worst, the 20 year old center midfielder was their best player, showing courage and quality on the ball that was badly missing. And even though Roberto De Zerbi discarded him for veteran players during the relegation fight, Tottenham Hotspur supporters voted for Gray as their Player of the Season for 2025/26 - a ray of shining light and a beacon of hope during the worst of the darkness under Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor.
As Tottenham aim for a return to the Champions League by virtue of their Premier League finish for the first time in years, De Zerbi cannot neglect the quality Gray can bring. He has an energy and an aura about him, capable of receiving under pressure and breaking the lines with a few calm touches and a well placed pass into the space for the attacker. He brings something that even Tonali and Fernandes do not have as a passer under pressure and at least as much energy; De Zerbi has to remember him as an option, including off the bench when Spurs need that spark against an Arsenal or a Chelsea.
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- Tottenham's summer transfer window has sparked an Archie Gray firestorm
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This article was originally published on hotspurhq.com as Roberto De Zerbi can't afford this Archie Gray mistake with Tottenham's Champions League hopes.
