Roberto De Zerbi makes first Tottenham move by holding talks with World Cup winner

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Roberto De Zerbi is already making moves at Tottenham , with Italian great Alessandro Nesta offered a role in his coaching staff.

De Zerbi has been tempted back to the Premier League and was announced as the new Spurs boss on Tuesday afternoon. He's already eyeing up his lieutenants to help the club avoid relegation from the Premier League and has turned to one of the great defenders of the 2000s.

Italian outlet Tuttosport reports that Nesta, now 50 and winner of the World Cup back in 2006, has been given a chance to become De Zerbi’s assistant manager. He is currently considering the offer, but has only worked as a head coach so far in his career.

Nesta moved into coaching after retiring and has had spells in charge of Miami FC, Perugia, Frosinone, Reggiana and Monza. Last term, he was shown the door by Monza in December 2024 with the club bottom of Serie A, only to be re-appointed just seven weeks later.

He could not inspire an upturn in results as Monza were relegated to Serie B after finishing 20th and now Nesta has the opportunity to work outside of Italy.

He would bring huge experience and credibility given the success he had as a player. Nesta played with Lazio in the early 2000s and was later part of the AC Milan side that won the Champions League , winning it in 2003 and 2007.

De Zerbi and his coaching staff will take charge of their first game at Sunderland a week on Sunday. The new man in charge has said: “Our short-term priority is to climb the Premier League table, which will be the complete focus until the final whistle of the last game of the season. I’m looking forward to getting out on the training pitch and working with these players to achieve that.”

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It has been reported that De Zerbi will earn an annual salary of between £12million and £15million - that will make him the third-highest paid manager in the Premier League. Despite the threat of going down the Italian is not thought to have a release clause in his deal.

De Zerbi was quickly identified as the club's first choice after Igor Tudor's underwhelming spell was bought to an end after just 44 days and no win. German coaches Edin Terzic and Marco Rose and two-time former caretaker head coach Ryan Mason were other options Tottenham considered.