De Zerbi, Misha, ‘my guy, Dom’ and the ‘magnitude of the club’ | Every word of Tosin Adarabioyo’s first interview

“Dominic Solanke said this is the place to be, so once he said that I knew, along with the conversation I had with the gaffer, I knew it was an amazing club to be, especially when I'm walking around now, seeing the magnitude of the club and going to the stadium, that's going to be some feeling.”

The central defender joined us from Chelsea on Tuesday after 70 appearances for the Blues, occasionally captaining the team and lifting the UEFA Conference League and FIFA World Club Cup in 2025.

Now 29, previously with City, Blackburn, West Brom and Fulham, Tosin has a wealth of experience – here’s what he had to say…

On joining Spurs…

Tosin: “I feel like I'm in an important part of my career, speaking to the manager as well, speaking to Roberto and knowing the type of football he wants to play. I think it's very fitting. He's a manager that just wants to play football, football, football and the conversations we've had, just a lot of tactical sense and then also bringing the environment to how he wants it to be. It takes a lot of courage to play the way the gaffer wants us to play, so to be able to take that courage to help the team is very important and that's something I look to do, no matter where I am.”

On Mykhailo ‘Misha’ Mudryk…

Tosin: “Misha is a workhorse, he's always been like that, ever since I've known him, he's always been one to take his training very seriously, to give 100% and when he went back into pre-season you saw that he was still at a very good level. So, he's ready, he's going to be fighting and that just sums him up, he's a top, top player. He obviously knows Roberto very well from working together with him from Shakhtar and he's had nothing but good things and amazing things to say about him. Now, to be able to come here together, is very special.”

On Dominic Solanke…

Tosin: “My guy, Dom! He’s a very good friend, probably one of my best friends, especially in football. We had a lot of conversations and we spoke about the club, just excited to link up. We played with each other from England Youth, played against each other for as long as I can remember and from there, we just became very good friends. He said this is the place to be, so once he said that I knew, along with the conversation I had with the gaffer, I knew it was an amazing club to be, especially when I'm walking around now, seeing the magnitude of the club and going to the stadium, that's going to be some feeling, so I'm very excited for that. I haven't played there before, so obviously you feel that, especially in derbies or wherever I've been, London derbies, it's special, so to be able to play there, have that as my home to defend, is going to be very special.”

On targets…

Tosin: “I really just want to achieve the absolute best, push this team, push this club as much as possible to be where we deserve and that's something that has to be done every single day, especially outside training and just bringing that environment, bringing that mentality to the club.”

Watch | Tosin's first interview