Roberto De Zerbi was in his office at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after the final game of last season, a 1-0 victory over Everton which ensured they remained a Premier League club.De Zerbi’s work for the day was not done. He had transfer targets for pursuing, such as Jan Paul van Hecke at Brighton, and so he began typing a text message to his former player.‘With JP, after the Everton game, I sent the message, “F*** off. You wanted to push down Tottenham for Brighton when you made the assist to Georginio Rutter. Now you have to come to me. Yes or yes? You have no choice,”’ De Zerbi tells us.‘After the game, right in my dressing room, in my office in the Tottenham stadium, I sent a message to my daughter, and then JP.’Van Hecke had assisted Rutter for Brighton’s stoppage-time equaliser at Tottenham in April, a 2-2 draw which left De Zerbi with only five remaining fixtures to avoid relegation. Daily Mail Sport were given time with Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi in Sydney De Zerbi explained how he spoke to his former Brighton player Jan Paul van Hecke just hours after the final game of last seasonSpurs survived, and now, they have signed Van Hecke from Brighton for £52million, Sandro Tonali from Newcastle for £100million, and Mateus Fernandes from West Ham for £85million, while also bringing in Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi for free from Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively. De Zerbi tells us he isn’t finished yet, describing their summer as ‘60 per cent’ complete.Spend some time with De Zerbi and you soon understand why so many big names are agreeing to sign up to the Spurs reboot. Daily Mail Sport was fortunate enough to have more than an hour in his company, inside a temporary boardroom set up at the chic InterContinental Hotel in Australia, within walking distance of the Sydney Opera House.Most managers loathe the transfer window but not this ‘shark’, as De Zerbi describes himself.‘If the coach calls the player, you can build a special connection at the beginning with the player, because the player knows you are the key for this transfer, and maybe this player feels to have to give you back something more than if Johan Lange (sporting director) calls the player,’ he says on transfers. ‘With Mateus Fernandes, I spoke with the parents, with his mum, with the father.‘The most important thing about my job is the relationship I have as a man. Without that relationship I am not able to work. Without the relationship you can’t play good football and have a good style of play. It is 20 per cent coach, 80 per cent the person.‘The facts are clear. Now we have to bring in top players to become competitive. I don’t know if to win, but for sure to be better, and better than the last two seasons’ results in the Premier League.‘Robertson, I think, is a winner. JP, maybe you don’t know, but he’s a winner, a leader. Tonali is a winner. What do you think? I fought to bring in players ready to win or not?’De Zerbi’s assistant, Enrico Venturelli, a lovely chap, is here with him for this interview, just in case he needs a little help with his English. On how he has found working with Tottenham’s higher-ups, De Zerbi continues: ‘It’s my best connection with the board. Also in the players we sold. For (Luka) Vuskovic, it was together. The request of Vuskovic (to leave), we spoke with Vinai (Venkatesham, chief executive), with Johan, together, because the money of my club, I consider my money.’It’s like the owner is my father. You don’t want to ask your father to spend money or to lose money, and if we bring in a player, if we sell a player, it’s one family. OK, we are spending money, but we are spending money for the plan, for the project.‘The top clubs now, they are not worried about selling players. No. Even Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, when they have to sell, they have to sell. Right price. You don’t have to be shy. But when you have to spend money, you have to do that. Strong, fast, quickly, the right player, the right investment.’ The Italian boss recalled his big speech after Tottenham’s defeat to Sunderland in April, which led to their resurgence and eventually survivalTottenham have acted decisively after two successive 17th-placed finishes in the Premier League. De Zerbi insists he would have stayed even if Spurs had dropped down, and it was a real possibility. They lost their first league game under the 47-year-old Italian – 1-0 away at Sunderland.‘I saw the players after Sunderland in the dressing room,’ De Zerbi recalls. ‘I didn’t tell you in the press conference, but it was like this: all people crying, lying down on the floor in the dressing room. I said, “We pass away?” and I tried to transfer positivity and to observe the situation from another perspective. I was honest. People inside the training ground were sad and negative.‘The first day after Sunderland, I organised a meeting without the players (just staff) and I said, “The first one I see say something negative, I will send you home immediately. I don’t want to see anyone sad, negative, crying. If you stay positive, I give you my word we will stay together here.” It’s another crucial part, because the players live with these people.’Asked what he did to pick up his broken players after Sunderland, De Zerbi reveals: ‘One big dinner in Bacchanalia in Mayfair – with alcohol. Alcohol is a good medicine. If you enjoy normally and seriously. Not as stupid people. I believe in staying together.‘Then, I transferred every day my opinion about them. I think they considered themselves in that moment worse than people thought. There was the possibility to stay up and to win. In sport, between the players and the coach, if you have respect and values, it’s much better, and with love, friendship, care, you become top, top, top. Respect is normal. If I believe in you, it’s much better. But if I love you, you become unbelievable.’Antonin Kinsky is among those set to benefit from De Zerbi’s show of trust, with the Spurs boss confirming when asked that he will be his first-choice goalkeeper next season. This follows the humiliation of Kinsky when Igor Tudor substituted him when 3-0 down after 17 minutes at Atletico Madrid. Kinsky was the best player when Spurs beat Chelsea 2-1 in their pre-season friendly in Sydney.‘Me as a player, as a student at school, when I felt the relationship with the teacher, with the coach, I gave my best,’ De Zerbi says. ‘If I didn’t feel the connection, if I didn’t feel he appreciated me, the teacher or the coach, I close myself, we start a war.’Upon taking over at Tottenham, De Zerbi says he held ‘one million’ individual meetings, some with players who may have been interested in leaving this summer. He tells us his message to them was: ‘Help me stay up, then I will help you to leave. If you don’t help me stay up, then you stay underwater with me.’ He praises Cristian Romero’s response, saying he was ‘unbelievable’, and while the Spurs captain could yet leave, he would do so with thanks from De Zerbi.His message to others such as Djed Spence and Lucas Bergvall was: ‘I would like you stay if you want to stay. If you don’t want to stay, if you want to leave, you have to leave. If you want to leave, speak with Vinai and Johan. Because I don’t manage the price, the sale. I can speak with Vinai and Johan about the best strategy to do, but I don’t decide £30m, £40m, that’s not my position and I don’t want to change my position. It’s tough enough to be a coach and I want to stay as a coach.’ De Zerbi values his relationship with individual players and wants them to feel a connection with himDe Zerbi insists he should not be seen as a disciplinarian. ‘They have to do what they want without rules,’ he adds. ‘I don’t love rules. I read a book where it was written that creative people don’t follow rules. I would like creative players. I don’t want to set any rules.‘Just a couple, two or three at most, in terms of players being together. I am not a policeman. Not with my children. Freedom. Total freedom. One is one. Every day we have to push. Every day we have to deserve to stay here or to play football or to earn our money. It’s not normal. We have to respect the luck we have had in our lives.’What if someone betrays this show of trust? ‘What do you want to know? If I punch the player? Nothing, but I know to be stronger when I have to do something.’De Zerbi is flattered that several coaches, such as Pep Guardiola and Enzo Maresca, have expressed their admiration for his work. ‘I become shy,’ he says. ‘I am not used to that and I don’t think I will ever get used to it. We are lucky because we started from the s*** of football.’De Zerbi has earned this opportunity to lead this reset for Tottenham, who remain one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs despite two struggling seasons. After an hour, we shake hands and go our separate ways – us understanding why so many footballers are in love with this manager, and him itching to get back to work.