Tottenham's Bomba Signing: Who Will Join De Zerbi's Revolution?

Roberto De Zerbi dropped one word and sent Tottenham into a frenzy.

“Bomba.”

One explosive signing, almost done, he teased. No name, no hints. Just enough to turn a routine pre-match briefing into a full-scale guessing game across north London.

Spurs have already spent a club-record £237million this summer and brought in six new faces, yet De Zerbi insists they are only “60 per cent” through their work. For a club that has spent two seasons peering nervously over its shoulder at the relegation scrap, that is a striking admission of both ambition and impatience.

The Italian wants more firepower. He has lost one target and now has a shortlist of forwards who could reshape his attack – and perhaps reveal the identity of that mystery “bomba”.

A setback, then a scramble

The plan had been clear enough. Eli Junior Kroupi, the 20-year-old Bournemouth striker, was high on the list. Young, mobile, a long-term project with serious upside.

Then came the injury.

A foot problem, surgery, and an expected four-month lay-off have killed that move stone dead. Tottenham cannot afford to wait. Not when De Zerbi is trying to bolt a high-intensity, front-foot system onto a squad still learning his demands.

So the focus has switched. Quickly. Spurs need a forward who can both score and stitch attacks together. Standard Sport has highlighted five names who fit the bill to varying degrees – some realistic, some dreamland, all intriguing.

Deniz Undav: the late bloomer with ruthless numbers

Deniz Undav is the sort of striker who sneaks up on you and then refuses to go away.

At Brighton he showed flashes – that clever lob at Arsenal in 2023 lingers in the memory – but he never truly owned the stage. It took a return to Germany, and a move to Stuttgart, for his game to explode.

Nineteen Bundesliga goals last season. A rate of 0.76 goals per 90 minutes. Seventh for goals among strikers across Europe’s top five leagues, sixth for goals per 90. Those are not hot-streak numbers; they are elite, sustained output.

He carried that form into the World Cup too, coming off the bench for Germany and transforming games in short bursts: three goals and two assists in just 69 group-stage minutes. Super-sub on the biggest stage.

Undav is more than a finisher. He drops off the line, links play, draws defenders into areas they do not want to go. For De Zerbi, who asks his centre-forward to knit attacks while wingers burst beyond, that profile is pure catnip.

The complication is age. At 30, Undav is hardly a long-term project. Yet De Zerbi has made no secret of his preference for proven quality over vague potential. Spurs want to win now. That makes the German a serious, if short-window, option.

Brian Brobbey: the battering ram De Zerbi already knows

If De Zerbi wants chaos, Brian Brobbey brings it in industrial quantities.

The Sunderland and Netherlands striker bullied Premier League defences last season in his debut campaign, then took that form onto the World Cup stage. He led the line for a Dutch side that looked primed for a deep run before a penalty shootout defeat to Morocco stopped them cold in the last 16.

Three goals in the group phase told part of the story. The rest was in the way he played. Relentless pressing, rugged hold-up play, an instinct to attack the box the moment the ball moved wide.

Spurs have already had a close-up view. Brobbey scored in a 1-1 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in January, tormenting defenders with his strength and movement. In De Zerbi’s first game in charge, a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, the Italian watched him dominate some of the league’s most experienced centre-backs.

This is a striker built for an aggressive press. He harries, he chases, he never switches off. In De Zerbi’s blueprint, the centre-forward is the trigger for everything. Brobbey looks tailor-made for that role.

Omar Marmoush: a reclamation project with upside

Omar Marmoush is already on Tottenham’s radar. That much is understood.

The Manchester City forward arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2025 and made an immediate impact, but his first full season under Pep Guardiola stalled badly. Just three league goals last term. For a club that demands relentless end product from its forwards, that is not enough.

City now consider him expendable. For Spurs, that might be the opening they need.

Marmoush is versatile – happy dropping into pockets to link play or darting in behind. The raw tools are obvious: pace, intelligence, a willingness to work. What has deserted him is confidence in front of goal.

De Zerbi has built his reputation on coaxing more from technically gifted, slightly wayward talents. At 27, Marmoush is entering the peak years that Tottenham’s head coach craves for instant impact. He has already shown he can score regularly in the Premier League. The question is whether De Zerbi believes he can flip the switch again.

There is also the tantalising prospect of a double raid on City. Savinho, another long-term Spurs target, has been linked as part of a potential twin move. If Marmoush arrives as the central option and Savinho as the wide threat, the shape of Tottenham’s attack changes overnight.

Savinho: raw pace, rough edges

Savinho has hovered around Tottenham’s wish list for some time. The Brazilian winger fits the template De Zerbi wants from his wide players: fast, direct, fearless in one-on-one situations.

He is not the “bomba” – more the supporting act to it – but he would still be a significant signing.

The numbers last season were modest. Just one league goal. That is not the return of a finished article, and it underlines how much polishing his game still needs in the final third.

Yet his movement tells a different story. Savinho repeatedly arrives in dangerous positions, stretching backlines, forcing defenders to turn and chase. The issue is the final touch: the shot, the last pass, the composure in crowded penalty areas.

De Zerbi has never shied away from that kind of project. Give him pace and bravery on the ball and he will back himself to refine the rest. If Tottenham do land both Savinho and Marmoush, the bar for this season’s expectations will rise sharply. A top-six push would no longer be an aspiration; it would feel like a minimum requirement.

Bradley Barcola: the fantasy “bomba”

Ask De Zerbi what he means by a “bomba” signing and he keeps it simple: top-level ability.

Bradley Barcola fits that description with room to spare.

The Paris Saint-Germain winger wants more minutes and looks destined to be squeezed out of a star-studded attack. For most clubs, being collateral in a squad that deep would be a harsh fate. For Spurs, it would be an opportunity bordering on miraculous.

Barcola is already a two-time Champions League winner and a key target for Liverpool this summer. His blend of pace, technique and big-game experience would represent a statement of intent unlike anything Tottenham have produced in recent years.

There is, to be clear, no sign that Spurs are close to such a move or even positioned to make it happen. This would be a raid that rips up the established order, the kind of transfer that makes the rest of the Premier League stop mid-sentence.

If they somehow pulled it off, the label “bomba” would barely cover it.

For now, the guessing game continues. One mystery signing, a handful of serious candidates, and a manager who insists the rebuild is barely past halfway. Tottenham have spent heavily, but De Zerbi clearly sees more work ahead.

The next forward through the door will not just fill a squad gap. He will signal exactly how far – and how fast – Spurs intend to climb.