At 22:00 BST (CEST) on September 5, Tottenham Hotspur will visit Nottingham Forest in the third round of the Premier League. Following the end of the media blackout period, parts of Roberto De Zerbi's pre-match press conference have been revealed. This article is the first part of that content.

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Tottenham haven't received a single penalty this season, and in fact, they didn't receive any penalties throughout last season in the Premier League either. I believe Harry Kane scored Spurs' last penalty in the Premier League. Do you think there's a reason behind this? Why is this happening? Have you contacted Professional Game Match Officials Limited about this?

No, no, no, no, no. Because as a head coach, I already have many difficult problems to deal with. I cannot lose focus on referees and waste energy on that. I think it's purely coincidental. Yes.

Let's talk about injured players. Dejan Kulusevski is back in training. Do you have a timeframe for his return?

Dejan started training with us at the beginning of this week, and over the past couple of days, minor injury issues have hindered him. But I think he's recovering well and is back on the right track. Everything is progressing very smoothly. I've said before that our medical team has very high standards, so I remain optimistic and hopeful about his recovery. I'm looking forward to having Dejan back in the team as soon as possible.

So this minor injury shouldn't keep him out for too long, right?

No, no, no. No impact. It's not a major issue.

One final question about signing Mykhailo Mudryk and some transfer targets you seem to be considering. In making these signings, are you intentionally avoiding blocking Luca Williams-Barnett's path to the senior squad? Has this been a deep consideration for you?

Yes, yes. But he's still very young. He's still too young. If in the future there's an appropriate competitive situation where Luca can play, I will certainly give him the chance. But in any case, we need to manage and develop him, along with another excellent young talent like Malachi, in the most appropriate and correct way.

Coming back to what you just mentioned about working with Mykhailo Mudryk, the situation at Shakhtar Donetsk was clearly extraordinary, and with the outbreak of war, their situation is incredibly tragic. Could you tell us more details? Tell us what training and working with him under such difficult and extraordinary circumstances was like?

I kept him at that time. I promoted him from the U21 youth team and brought him into the senior squad. I gave him a crucial opportunity by having him start in a real match against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. He was very young then—just 20 years old. And he performed quite well. That was his first full season in the senior team, so during that time, sometimes he played brilliantly, and sometimes his performances were inconsistent. But this process is necessary for young players to develop.

After that, he left Shakhtar Donetsk and moved to Chelsea. I think he had to pay an enormous psychological and public price, because it's a completely different league, a new country, and a top club with a completely different scale and level. He carried enormous pressure and responsibility because he was aware of his transfer value. He knew about the huge transfer fee that Chelsea paid to bring him over.

But for a young talent with the potential to become a world-class superstar, experiencing these fluctuations is not an unusual development process, right? And now, I think he's 25 years old and at the right stage at a top club to make the most of the prime years of his career. I believe this is the best opportunity for him to fully demonstrate his true abilities.

Do you feel he has a fierce hunger and thirst to prove his abilities to the world more than most other players? Because honestly, in the early stages when he arrived in the Premier League, before the ban happened, he had to struggle a bit. Then the ban occurred. But fortunately, that's been sorted out now. I can imagine that deep down, he must have accumulated a lot of disappointment and determination to prove himself...

Yes. I hope this will be the key to unlocking his potential. But Mykhailo Mudryk truly loves football. He was born to play football. In terms of professional attitude, commitment, and strong belief in hard work, I have rarely seen many players reach his level. During regular midweek training sessions, his intensity and training volume are typically double that of his teammates. Perhaps in official matches, he still needs to focus more on the ball, focus more on the team's technical and tactical execution. At the same time, he needs to demand more of himself to unleash more energy, because his true talent and quality are much stronger than what he's shown.

Final question. This transfer window has been unprecedented in terms of bringing in new players at Spurs. I don't think club management has ever invested such massive sums in transfers before. You yourself said last week that the number of completed deals exceeded your expectations, which has undoubtedly excited loyal Spurs fans immensely. But with these major signings completed, doesn't this indirectly put additional pressure on you to deliver satisfactory results?

No, I don't think so. I'm very happy right now, and our work is very efficient. I think the club has done many good things in this transfer market. I don't feel any burden because we've spent a lot of money, because in my view, other top clubs in the Premier League have also spent heavily on players—perhaps even more than us. So this isn't pressure at all. The real pressure is to play well, to score points and get results as quickly as possible. But this pressure certainly doesn't come from the transfer market and spending large sums of money.

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