Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi says he will respect the wishes of players who want to leave the club, such as Cristian Romero and Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs have set about rebuilding their squad after suffering another disastrous Premier League campaign in which they just about avoided relegation to the Championship.
The Lilywhites have already spent around £237 million on new signings, including a club record £100 million fee for Sandro Tonali after spending £85 million to buy Mateus Fernandes and £52 million on Jan Paul van Hecke. They have also signed Andy Robertson, Marco Senesi and Martin Dubravka on free transfers.
Players will continue to leave the club as part of the rebuild after Luka Vuskovic and Will Lankshear joined Brighton and Middlesbrough respectively, while Radu Dragusin has joined Florentina on loan.
Romero and Vicario could be the next ones to depart, with both players linked with moves to Italy. The pair could be granted transfers by their Italian head coach after helping the club stay up last season.
De Zerbi will respect Romero and Vicario exit wishes
De Zerbi told football.london: “At the beginning of my time, in April, I had, I don’t know, one million individual meetings! And [the players] told me what was their idea. I said: ‘Yes, help me to stay up, and then I help you to leave’. If you don’t help me to stay up, you stay underwater with me!
“But Romero with me was unbelievable. Top. In his behaviour, his respect, he suffered when he did not play the last game. It is not true that he wanted to leave for Argentina to prepare for their World Cup. It’s not true.
“After the semi-final [against England] we text a message, but I never called him to convince him to stay. I respected what he told me. Like for Vicario, like for every player.”
De Zerbi added: “Romero as a player is one of the best centre-backs in the world, but at the end I said I want to respect the will of the players.”
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