"The new captain is Micky van de Ven, the second Pedro Porro, the third Ben Davies, the fourth is James Maddison and the fifth is Archie Gray," Roberto De Zerbi said, quoted by sportsmole.co.uk. That is the headline at Tottenham: Micky van de Ven has been appointed captain, but the bigger call is a five-man leadership group announced on the eve of the new Premier League campaign.

It is a break from the usual single-skipper model, and probably a sensible one after a season that ended with Spurs down in 17th. De Zerbi is not just replacing a departing captain. He is spreading authority across the team.

De Zerbi's leadership reset

The first part of the story is straightforward. Cristian Romero has completed his move to Atletico Madrid, so Tottenham needed a new captain. Van de Ven gets that job.

But De Zerbi did not stop there. Alongside van de Ven, he named Pedro Porro, Ben Davies, James Maddison and Archie Gray in the leadership group for the 2026-27 Premier League season.

Asked why he had gone with five captains, De Zerbi told sportsmole.co.uk: "Why five captains? Just because I want many captains inside of the pitch and to be clear in their position, and every one of them they deserve to be captain or in the group of the captains."

That fits the state of the squad. Tottenham were not appointing a captain from a position of comfort after last season's finish. A wider leadership structure looks less like a novelty and more like a manager trying to spread responsibility across the dressing room and on the pitch.

De Zerbi also made clear he does not see the armband as the whole point. "But the personality, the passion, is not if you are captain or you are not captains."

That feels like the most telling part of his thinking. Van de Ven gets the title, but Tottenham's manager wants leadership shared, visible and repeated across the team rather than left to one player.

The Brentford wrinkle

There is an immediate complication to the announcement. Van de Ven is captain, but he may not be the man wearing the armband against Brentford.

De Zerbi said, quoted by sportsmole.co.uk: "Today he (Van de Ven) worked with us, with the group – he’s going very well," while other reporting around the opener says both van de Ven and Porro are not ready to start. Those details do not really clash. He is back with the group and moving in the right direction, but that is not the same as being ready from the first whistle.

Van de Ven's 94 minutes in his latest outing point to a player building back up rather than one being ruled out entirely. Gray's recent 20 minutes support the idea that, if he does wear the armband, it would be as part of De Zerbi's new structure rather than because he has already become an established starter.

That is why the Brentford game gives the captaincy call a slightly odd edge. Tottenham have named their new leader, yet the first public image of this new setup could easily be someone else, potentially Gray, walking out with the armband.

Romero's exit and what Spurs are changing

Romero's departure matters here because it closes one leadership chapter and seems to have pushed Tottenham toward a broader answer rather than a direct replacement. In his farewell message, quoted by independent.co.uk, Romero said: "The journey wasn’t perfect, but I don’t want that to define my goodbye. I choose to remember the happy moments, the lessons, the people who stood by me and, above all, the love I received during these five years."

Van de Ven is not being sold as a finished, proven captain in some grand sense, and he does not need to be. He already led the side in the final six games of Tottenham's survival fight last term, and now he sits at the top of a group De Zerbi clearly trusts.

The appointment came just before Spurs' first game of the new Premier League season, which only adds to the sense that this was about setting the hierarchy before a ball is kicked. Tottenham go into the Brentford opener with van de Ven as captain on paper and five leaders named around him.

FAQ

Why have Tottenham named five captains for the new season?

Roberto De Zerbi said he wants many captains on the pitch and wants each player to be clear in his position. He named Micky van de Ven first, followed by Pedro Porro, Ben Davies, James Maddison and Archie Gray, arguing that leadership is about personality and passion rather than the armband alone.

Will Micky van de Ven captain Tottenham against Brentford?

He may not. Van de Ven has been appointed Tottenham captain, but De Zerbi said he is going very well after working with the group and the reports around the opener say he is not yet ready to start. That leaves open the chance of someone else wearing the armband.

Could Archie Gray wear the armband for Tottenham this weekend?

Yes, he could. De Zerbi included Gray in the five-man captaincy group, and with Van de Ven and Pedro Porro not ready to start, the 20-year-old is in line to wear the armband at Brentford. The key point is possibility, not certainty, because there is no confirmation that Gray will start.

How has Cristian Romero's exit affected Tottenham's captaincy?

Romero's move to Atletico Madrid left a leadership vacancy for Tottenham to fill. Van de Ven has now taken the main captaincy, but De Zerbi has gone further than a straight replacement by naming a five-man group rather than relying on one obvious successor.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →