Tottenham transfer briefing: Latest on Savinho and Kroupi, the Djed Spence and Richarlison dilemmas, why Mikey Moore may be sold and the academy stars being pushed away by spending spree

After an explosion of early summer transfer activity,

Roberto De Zerbi

has settled into pre-season training at

Tottenham

.

The first wave of players reported back for three days of fitness testing and will have been in the groove for two weeks by the time they set out on tour to New Zealand and Australia.

Some of their Premier League rivals are staying closer to home after a World Cup summer but Spurs have different horizons. They go to New Zealand to play Auckland on July 26, before two games in Australia, against Sydney FC on July 29 and Chelsea on August 1, and two back home against Getafe and Hoffenheim.

De Zerbi should be able to take a strong squad to the other side of the world with lots of first-teamers having enjoyed a long summer break. Antonin Kinsky, Archie Gray, Destiny Udogie,

Ben Davies

, Mathys Tel, fit-again

James Maddison

, Conor Gallagher,

Richarlison

and Dominic Solanke did not go to the World Cup. Nor did three of Spurs' six new signings in

Sandro Tonali

, Mateus Fernandes and Martin Dubravka.

These players provide a framework of what the first team might look like on the opening day at

Brentford

in less than five weeks' time and with young players returning from loan spells, it has enabled De Zerbi to get to work.

Seven of the 11 Spurs players who were at the World Cup were knocked out by July 2. Andy Robertson and

Rodrigo Bentancur

crashed out in the group stage. Micky van de Ven, Jan Paul van Hecke, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr and Kevin Danso went out in the last 32. The World Cup summer could have been worse from De Zerbi’s point of view.

Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi has settled into pre-season training at Tottenham with the first wave of players having reported back for fitness testing

Tottenham midfielder Conor Gallagher has been able to enjoy a long summer break before reporting back for duty

Comings and goings

Recruitment plans rumble on, led by sporting director Johan Lange and assisted by new director of football operations Carlos Raphael Moersen, with strong input from De Zerbi.

Between them, they have reinforced the defence and midfield with six signings, and yet if this is to go down as a summer to define the new ambitious Spurs there must be a second wave when dominoes start to drop at other clubs. Otherwise, there will be distinct echoes of the summer of 2022, which began with a flurry of new recruits but fizzled out and left Antonio Conte in one of his strops.

As things stand, Spurs remain active for new signings up front. The priorities are for a left winger and an upgrade at centre forward. Brazilian winger Savinho of Manchester City remains a top target and there is a feeling it is viable. Reports link them to lots of others, including Eli Junior Kroupi of Bournemouth and Cody Gakpo of Liverpool. All these deals would require the selling clubs to have replacements lined up.

Spurs have money to spend, but outgoings will be crucial for longer-term financial health and mood in the camp. This is already clear from the decision to sell Luka Vuskovic and consider Bergvall’s desire to leave.

Guglielmo Vicario and Cristian Romero are not expected to stay. They are ready to go, and the club is happy to let them leave if a deal can be found.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that personnel within the clubs emerging as potential buyers for the unwanted Spurs players have strong connections to De Zerbi. Juventus chief executive and general manager Giovanni Carnevali worked with the Spurs boss at Sassuolo. Inter’s sporting director Piero Ausilio has been close since trying to lure De Zerbi to Milan from Sassuolo.

Juventus are very interested in Vicario if they cannot persuade Aston Villa to sell Emi Martinez. They have not given up hope that Martinez will try to leave Villa after the World Cup. Juve are also linked with Richarlison, who has one year to run on his Spurs contract.

Richarlison is settled in London and earlier this month revealed he had passed his UK citizenship test. He is not desperate to move on. Besides, Juventus boss Luciano Spalletti would prefer to sign Randal Kolo Muani of Paris Saint-Germain and/or Mateo Pellegrino of Parma as he looks for strikers to replace Dusan Vlahovic and Lois Openda.

Richarlison (left) is settled in London and earlier this month revealed he had passed his UK citizenship test. He is not desperate to move on

Juventus are interested in Guglielmo Vicario if they cannot persuade Aston Villa to sell Emi Martinez

Tottenham are still pushing to add Eli Junior Kroupi (right) to his former Bournemouth team-mate Marcos Senesi (left)

Spence and sensibility

Djed Spence started only two of seven games for De Zerbi at the end of last season and even after finally ending his years in the Spurs wilderness is probably still regarded as first replacement for Pedro Porro at right back or Udogie at left back.

His pace and versatility make him very useful to have on the bench. He has been a revelation for England at the World Cup and has become Inter Milan’s prime right back target after losing out to Chelsea in the race for Marco Palestra from Atalanta as they look to replace Denzel Dumfries, who has been sold to Real Madrid.

Spence, with his athletic style, has a similar profile to Dumfries and at 25 likes the idea of the move, a chance to represent one of Italy’s great clubs, play regularly in the Champions League and challenge for the big prizes.

For Spurs, looking to clear the decks, a sale makes sense. Despite Spence’s eye-catching World Cup displays, De Zerbi is a coach who values possession, he wants to keep the ball and the full backs are pivotal to that in the modern game.

Spence has grown into a very good player but the quality at the top of the

Premier League

is higher than at the World Cup and De Zerbi probably thinks he can find a replacement with more poise on the ball.

He already has more left backs than he can accommodate. Udogie and Robertson will compete to start with Davies, who has signed a new deal, providing cover. There is also Souza, the young Brazilian signed in January who might go out on loan. Van de Ven can also play there.

At right back, there is not the same depth. Gray and Robertson can provide cover for Porro in the short term, but De Zerbi will probably be looking for a reinforcement if Spence goes.

Djed Spence has been a revelation for England at the World Cup but De Zerbi probably thinks he can find a replacement with more poise on the ball

Archie Gray can provide cover at right back for Tottenham if needed

The jilted generation

The flipside of any first-team recruitment drive will be concerns about pathways among those in the academy. Will Spurs have joined up plans enabling the best of their young talent to develop into first-team players?

Vuskovic (19) has joined Brighton because De Zerbi could not guarantee him regular football after signing Van Hecke and Marcos Senesi, and the Croatia centre half could not face a third loan.

Bergvall (20) has made it known he is keen to leave amid interest from Nottingham Forest. Spurs have rejected one bid for Bergvall but as with Vuskovic this is tempting profit for a player not likely to start if everyone is available. Forest, flush with the money from selling Elliot Anderson to Manchester City for £116m, will return and Spurs will do business if they reach something like £45m with sell-ons and buy-back options to be discussed.

Gray (20) can count Liverpool and Bayern Munich among his admirers. Newcastle are also interested as they look to rebuild with younger players after losing Tonali and possibly Bruno Guimaraes from midfield.

There are murmurings about Mikey Moore considering his options too, after a good year on loan at Rangers. Moore (18) is very different to Vuskovic or Bergvall as a completely homegrown talent - he has been at Spurs since he was seven and is perhaps the most heralded of recent academy graduates.

Great things were expected when he forced his way into the squad two years ago, and supporters love to see one of their own in the first team. He signed a new contract last year tying him to the club until 2030.

Spurs, though, are well stocked at No 10 and in the market for left wingers, the two positions where he is most likely to feature. Tel is three years older and more likely to play in those same roles.

If they pay big money for another winger – and Savinho, who appears to be the chief target, is only 22, another, RB Leipzig's Antonio Nusa, is 21 – that blocks Moore’s pathway effectively for the foreseeable future.

Swedish midfielder Lucas Bergvall, 20, has made it known he is keen to leave Tottenham amid interest from Nottingham Forest

Mikey Moore is considering his options after a good year on loan at Rangers. The 18-year-old is a homegrown talent but sees lots of problems in trying to break into the first team

Lucas Williams-Barnett (right) is a highly touted prospect but what is the message to Spurs' young talents when they find their path to the first team blocked?

Academy graduates represent pure profit on the balance sheet so there might be some appeal, but it creates a bad vibe inside the academy.

Elijah Upson, son of former England defender Matthew, has opted out of Spurs, rejecting a new deal after his scholarship, and is heading to Arsenal. What are the other shining lights, such as Luca Williams-Barnett and Jun'ai Byfield, both 17, expected to think?

Missing wide boys

The transfer window is open for another six weeks. There is plenty of time to fine-tune the squad but as it stands today, the bare areas are up front and out wide.

Mohammed Kudus, back from a thigh injury, has been pictured in the gym at the Spurs training base. Dejan Kulusevski, who has not played for more than a year, has not. Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons are still months away from fitness after cruciate knee ligament surgeries.

De Zerbi is short of genuine wingers with the pace and ability to go past defenders. Moore is one of them. Another is Manor Solomon, back from a loan at Fiorentina who did not take the option to sign him. Solomon worked with De Zerbi at Shakhtar Donetsk but is not expected to be reintegrated at Spurs beyond pre-season.

Mohamed Kudus, back from a thigh injury, has been pictured at the Spurs training base

Mathys Tel showed flickers of progress under De Zerbi at the end of last season. He is talented and willing but lacking in end product

Tel showed flickers of progress under De Zerbi at the end of the season. He is talented and willing but Tel, Solanke, Richarlison and Kolo Muani scored only 19 Premier League goals between them last season. Richarlison scored 11 of them.

With a stronger defence and midfield behind them, they could improve but Spurs need more goal threat from the forward unit. Kolo Muani is back at PSG after his year on loan in N17. It would be a sign of missed targets if they go back to him.

Empire building

Having brought in trusted sidekick Enrico Venturelli to his backroom team in May, De Zerbi has added Agostino Tibaudi to the staff.

Slowly, his familiar faces are returning to his side. Tibaudi is a sports science and fitness expert who worked with De Zerbi at Sassuolo, Shakhtar, Brighton and Marseille. He also worked at Chelsea under Claudio Ranieri.