Gareth Bale insisted that if Tottenham are to be successful under Roberto De Zerbi, then they must invest in the attacking areas of their squad this summer.
De Zerbi helped Spurs retain their Premier League status on the final day of the 2025-26 season, with a 1-0 win over Everton enough to secure a 17th-placed finish.
The 47-year-old arrived in North London on March 31 to succeed Igor Tudor after his tenure lasted just 44 days, and has since begun his rebuild ahead of the new campaign.
Spurs have already confirmed the free signings of Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi, with Jan Paul van Hecke, a player known to De Zerbi from his time at Brighton, also joining the club for a reported £52m transfer fee.
Defensive reinforcements were needed, given only relegated trio Burnley (75), Wolves (68) and West Ham (65) conceded more Premier League goals than Spurs’ 57 last season.
However, Bale believes the focus should be on improvements in the final third, with Spurs scoring just 48 league goals last term. Richarlison was their top scorer with 11, with Joao Palhinha the next best on five.
“I am glad the season is over,” Bale, who made 237 appearances across two spells for Spurs, told The Athletic.
“Hopefully, now it is a fresh start with Roberto De Zerbi, a good transfer window in the summer and not a third 17th-placed finish in a row.
“With a few more additions, especially attacking, it could be a very good team very quickly. Winning the Europa League papered over a few cracks [for the owners].
“They’ll probably now be looking at this transfer window as an opportunity to reinvest and get the squad back to where it belongs.”
Tottenham’s attacking options last season were limited due to several injuries, with Richarlison, Mohammed Kudus, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke all missing large parts of the campaign. Dejan Kulusevski also failed to make an appearance in 2025-26.
Despite Bale’s pleas for reinforcements in the attacking areas, Spurs are reportedly looking to bolster their midfield with Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali.
It has been reported that Spurs have seen an £80m bid turned down earlier this week, though the Italian is also admired by Manchester City and Arsenal.
De Zerbi’s first full campaign in charge of Spurs begins against Brentford. Tottenham have only lost their first fixture in one of the past 10 Premier League seasons (W6 D3) after falling to a 1-0 defeat by Everton in 2020-21.
