Tottenham's 'bomba' signing: These are the two strikers they want, the game-changers they should be in for and the realistic targets that would fit perfectly with Roberto De Zerbi's style of play

Trust Roberto De Zerbi to drop a bomb.

Tottenham have already spent nearly £250million this summer, enough to give Daniel Levy the shakes, but the Italian made it clear Spurs were not done.

‘The transfer market, it’s not finished for sure,’ said De Zerbi. ‘We completed 60 per cent of our project in the transfer market. Now we have another bomba. Is it close? I hope, but it’s not finished for sure.’

Bomba. Both short for ‘bomba di mercato’, an Italian phrase meaning ‘market bombshell’, as well as a term used by Gen Z in online slang to mean a major surprise, a big piece of news, or a significant development.

This is certainly one of those.

‘We have to increase the number of goals with the quality of the play, with the midfielders, with the attackers, but we have to bring players able to score goals. We have to consider set-pieces, we have to increase also the height, a lot of things.’

Roberto De Zerbi has promised Tottenham fans another 'bomba' signing in the forward line - and claims their already booming business this summer is only '60 per cent' finished

They certainly need goals. They mustered 48 in the Premier League last season, fewer than most sides in the division. Eighteen of them came from corners, making up nearly 40 per cent of all their goals, by far the highest ratio in the division. So, perhaps, it’s not the set-pieces that need most of the attention.

Spurs have completed huge deals for defender Jan Paul van Hecke for more than £50m and midfielders Mateus Fernandes for £85m and Sandro Tonali for £100m. They are in talks over signing winger Savinho from Manchester City but even he’s not believed to be the bomba.

Whoever it is, it must be the man to bring them their much-needed goals.

Daily Mail Sport assesses who De Zerbi’s mystery bombshell could be.

Omar Marmoush

De Zerbi is said to be a big admirer of the Egypt international and, despite making just eight league starts for Pep Guardiola last term, it’s easy to see why.

As we saw with his use of Joao Pedro at Brighton, De Zerbi likes his strikers to drop deep and link up play, pulling defenders out of position to create space for wingers like Kaoru Mitoma or Simon Adingra to exploit and score goals. At Marseille, too, it was wide forward Mason Greenwood who finished as De Zerbi’s top scorer last season.

That’s why Tottenham were so keen on Bournemouth striker Junior Kroupi before he was ruled out for up to four months with a foot injury.

De Zerbi is a big admirer of Omar Marmoush (pictured), and it's easy to see why

Bournemouth's Eli Junior Kroupi (right) has been a target all summer - but has been ruled out for months with a foot injury

When Marmoush played up front for City last season, often alongside Erling Haaland in a front two, he was usually the player to drop in to collect the ball and allow players to run on ahead of him.

He did just that against West Ham last season (see below) as he holds the ball with Haaland, Nico O’Reilly, Antoine Semenyo and Bernardo Silva sprinting ahead of him.

Marmoush draws his marker, slips in Silva, and he dinks the ball over the keeper with a sublime finish.

Marmoush drops deep to get on the ball - just as De Zerbi likes his strikers to do - before slipping Bernardo Silva in down the left

That ability to create space for those around him is ideal for how De Zerbi wants his Spurs team to play.

But that’s not enough for De Zerbi. He wants forwards who, once that’s done, can turn and attack the box to get on the end of any chances created by the wide players.

Marmoush can do that, too. That was clear in his finish when he led the line on his own without Haaland against Wolves in January, bursting to get ahead of his defender and on to the end of Matheus Nunes’ cross.

Against Wolves last season, City's Marmoush attacks the space in the box and scores from Matheus Nunes' cross

Marmoush also gives De Zerbi the option to play him in that striker role or as a left winger, where he’s also flourished. Few City fans will forget his hat-trick against Newcastle.

Dominic Solanke is already a superb operator when it comes to coming short to help bring his team-mates into play and Marmoush is a fine, explosive option down the left. He’s quick, too. His top speed of 21.9mph put him inside the 25 fastest players at the World Cup.

Cody Gakpo

Tottenham are also understood to be interested in the Liverpool forward. De Zerbi, happy to say all the quiet things out loud when proclaiming what he’s looking for, declared Spurs have to ‘increase the height’ of his team. At 6ft 4in, Gakpo would certainly do that.

Gakpo is another that fits the De Zerbi profile as a forward who likes to drift in off the left and attack the box but who also can play down the middle. And, when he does, he is the kind of striker who can drop in to mix it up.

This is Gakpo’s touchmap from Liverpool’s final Premier League game of the Arne Slot era, a home draw to Brentford, where the Dutchman started as the lone striker but had most of the ball closer towards the halfway line.

Cody Gakpo's touch map from Liverpool's home match against Brentford last season shows how he is far from a No 9, rather a forward who drops in to get on the ball

Gakpo also has the wherewithal to nip in behind high lines, as shown below against Fulham in another game where he started as the lone striker.

He latched on the ball over the top and raced through but couldn’t find the finish.

Gakpo can also play on the shoulder of the defender and make runs in behind

Gakpo, a regular starter last season, found himself cast as the fall guy for Liverpool’s dismal title defence under Slot. He was frequently the subject of fan derision while a return of just seven goals and five assists from 32 starts did little to help that perception, especially when he’d notched 10 goals from 23 starts during the title-winning campaign.

He fits De Zerbi’s profile but not many Spurs fans would, perhaps unfairly, see his arrival as the bomba they would want.

Gakpo is a good fit for the profile of player De Zerbi wants - but would he be the bomba Spurs fans are craving?

Dusan Vlahovic

Can a free transfer be a bomba signing? Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s arrival at Manchester United in 2016 would suggest so.

Vlahovic, 26, remains a free agent after his four-and-a-half-year stint at Juventus came to an end. Tottenham are said to be interested in the No 9 and, like Gakpo, he would fulfil De Zerbi’s desire for added height as he stands at 6ft 3in.

His 68 goals in 168 games was a fair old return at Juve and he reached double figures in his last six campaigns, stretching back into his tenure at Fiorentina. His 20 goals in 24 games for them in 2021-22 earned his big-money move to the Old Lady.

Last season, too, he ranked among the division’s leading goalscorers when he was on the pitch with his trusty left foot. That, however, was the problem. He barely was. He missed huge chunks of the season with adductor and calf injuries.

Tottenham already have two injury-prone strikers in Richarlison and Solanke. They don’t need another.

Not to mention Vlahovic was the highest-paid player in the whole of Serie A last season. He might be free to sign, but he’ll be far from that to keep.

And he would be a completely different style of striker to those that De Zerbi likes to use. He’s an out-and-out front man. He rarely drops deep, he’s not the best at linking up play.

That, for De Zerbi, is surely not the bomba.

Serbia striker Dusan Vlahovic, who is now a free agent after leaving Juventus, is another option for Spurs but has had plenty of injury problems

Marcus Rashford

Despite 14 goals and 14 assists in all competitions (and nine goals which helped fire Barcelona to the La Liga crown), the Catalan giants opted not to cash in their £25m option to make Rashford’s loan move permanent, so he returns to Manchester United.

Rashford hasn’t featured for his boyhood club since 2024 and is unlikely to feature in Michael Carrick’s plans for the season.

As a forward who shifts in off the flank into central areas and can also play up front, naturally there has been some speculation that De Zerbi's Spurs could be a good move for Rashford.

He ranked behind only superstars Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Raphinha for the most shot-ending carries in La Liga last season.

He proved that he can still make things happen when he’s on the ball, doing his best work in the channels.

De Zerbi, though, for all his desire to play up and down and through the lines, is not renowned for his speed in moving the ball upfield.

His Brighton side in 2023-24 produced the fewest fast breaks of any side in the division.

He likes his side to build up patiently but then slice open defences with splitting passes. That’s why he’s signed defenders like Van Hecke and Marcos Senesi and midfielders like Fernandes and Tonali.

That doesn’t suit Rashford quite so much, nor does De Zerbi’s desire for constant pressing and off-the-ball work.

Marcus Rashford is available after Barcelona refused the option to take him on a permanent deal from Manchester United

Lautaro Martinez

Now, this would be a bomba. The top scorer in Serie A last season with 17 goals for Inter, and third behind only team-mate Federico Dimarco and Como winger Jesus Rodriguez for open-play assists.

Tactically, he’s ideal for how De Zerbi plays. He drops off the front line, dragging defenders with him, to combine with his team-mates and then attacks the space that’s vacated.

His heat map from 2025-26 (below) shows how he covered every blade of grass in the opponent’s half, with many of the chances he created coming from deeper areas.

Lautaro Martinez's heat map in Serie A 2025-26 (deeper colour, more touches) shows how he covers every blade of grass

Martinez creates chances from deep, he is not just a six-yard box player

Martinez will be hard to get, though, as he loves playing for Inter Milan and has gone public about it

Good luck getting him, though. ‘If they (Inter) don’t kick me out, I’m staying,’ he said recently. 'No doubt I would like to retire at this club.’

Julian Alvarez

How about another Argentinian in Julian Alvarez? Arsenal have already been gazumped on Morgan Rogers, could it happen on Alvarez too?

The former Man City forward has declared his desire to leave Atletico Madrid this summer to ‘fulfil his dream’. He does have a €500m release clause, though, and Atletico have already rejected a bid of £129m from Real Madrid.

Now, here is a player who really does fit the De Zerbi brief - and 20 goals and nine assists in all competitions for Atletico last season show why. His 10 goals in the Champions League put him behind just Mbappe and Harry Kane.

Argentina striker Julian Alvarez is a player who really does fit the De Zerbi brief

Not only does he drop in, drag defenders around, and link up the play, he presses like a midfielder too.

During the World Cup, starting up front alongside Lionel Messi, Alvarez did the hard yards.

His touch map against England (below) showed just how much of it he did.

Alvarez's touch map against England shows how he too likes to roam around the pitch

During his final season at City, Alvarez won possession in the final third more often than any other striker.

Now, he would be a bombshell signing.