Inside Tottenham's Worst Start: Where the £300m Rebuild Has Stalled

Tottenham head into the international break bottom of the Premier League table, winless in five games despite a summer outlay in excess of £300 million.

A defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend left Spurs with just two points from a possible fifteen, and while there is understood to be internal backing for Roberto De Zerbi, the pressure on the Italian is starting to build.

Where the summer spending has stalled

Mateus Fernandes, signed from West Ham for around £85 million, has shown flashes of quality despite being substituted at half-time against Villa. Left-back Destiny Udogie has offered glimpses of his best form in limited minutes, but elsewhere the picture is bleaker.

• Dominic Solanke has struggled for sharpness after a string of injuries and has been criticised publicly by De Zerbi.
• Summer arrivals Andy Robertson and Sandro Tonali are also yet to find rhythm.
• Mathys Tel was given a stern talking-to after an ineffective cameo as an emergency striker against Everton.

A squad short on match sharpness

Much of Spurs' malaise is being traced back to a disrupted pre-season, which left the group behind physically and mentally relative to their rivals. De Zerbi will have a month to address that before his side returns to action.

For a club that spent so heavily to avoid a repeat of last season's relegation fight, the early signs suggest the rebuild will take longer than hoped.