Roberto De Zerbi hopes for title challenge but knows first job is Spurs survival

By George Sessions, Press Association

Roberto De Zerbi knows his first mission is to keep Tottenham in the Premier League, but believes the club has everything to challenge for the title in the future.

De Zerbi will take charge of his maiden fixture as Spurs head coach on Sunday away at Sunderland with his new team on a 13-match winless league run and embroiled in a shock survival battle.

Tottenham have not been relegated since 1977 but De Zerbi is the third man to sit in the managerial hotseat this season and even though he is focused on the final seven matches of a difficult campaign, he plans to aim high in N17 after he signed a five-year contract.

Asked about his relatively short spells at Brighton and Marseille, De Zerbi pushed back: “I stayed three years in Sassuolo and then I left (Shakhtar) from Ukraine when the war started.

“In Brighton I left for different problems and in Marseille maybe the same, (but) I would like to stay four or five (years), for a long time.

“In my plan, for sure there is the idea to stay for a long time, to try to put Tottenham, I’m not speaking about titles because it’s not the right moment now, but (I want) to put Tottenham to stay in the first position in the Premier League because there are all parts to reach that level.

“First of all it has to be clear to everyone. I want to work in the Premier League and I believe I deserve to work in the Premier League, but the main sense of my work is more than the league.

“If I sign my contract in April I have to be ready to stay, no matter what, in the next season. I want to stay focused on Sunderland and the other six games, but my idea is very clear.”