Ahead of Saturday's Premier League opener at Brentford, the Tottenham head coach praised his board for delivering on assurances made when he arrived at the end of March, with a club-record deal for Savinho from Manchester City set to push the club's summer outlay past £300m.
"I am very happy," De Zerbi said. "I can't speak about the other coaches [before me]. I just can say, in my experience, they kept their word, kept what they said before I came at the end of March.
"But what we are doing is not for the coach. It's for the club, for the fans, for the history of the club, for the pride of the club, and for the level of the club. This moment is crucial. We have to change the mood completely."
De Zerbi's final seven games last season — in which Tottenham avoided relegation on the final day by beating Everton — were "maybe the best moment in football" for him, he said, and the club's business is not finished. Talks over Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush are advancing, while Liverpool's Cody Gakpo also remains a target; completing all three deals would push spending on nine new signings well beyond the £300m already committed this summer.
De Zerbi would not be drawn on setting concrete targets after back-to-back 17th-place finishes.
"Now is not the right moment," he said. "Now is the moment to think about Brentford, to complete the transfer market and then to follow the first two targets — to find the soul of the team and the style of play. Then we can fix what target you want without arrogance but also with big ambitions because this is Tottenham, not another smaller team. Not maybe now.
"Or maybe yes, I don't know. But we have the squad enough to play in every stadium in the right way."
The manager also confirmed a new leadership structure, naming Micky van de Ven as captain with Pedro Porro, Ben Davies, James Maddison and Archie Gray as vice-captains in that order. Van de Ven and Porro are both unavailable for the trip to Brentford, while Maddison's fitness after a minor pre-season injury means Gray could lead the side out.
Lucas Bergvall, who had asked to leave earlier in the summer amid interest from Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, has since committed his future to the club.
"He wants to stay and we have no problem," De Zerbi said. "He's a top-potential player."
Others remain more likely to depart. Pape Matar Sarr is a target for Galatasaray, Destiny Udogie has suitors in Italy amid a surplus of options at left-back, and Richarlison or Dominic Solanke could leave if Marmoush arrives. Teenage winger Mikey Moore is expected to join Cologne on loan once the Savinho and Gakpo deals are finalised.
De Zerbi wants a squad of 21 or 22 players and will guarantee nobody a place.
"I love speaking clearly," said the 47-year-old. "Today is the August 21 and every one of those players knows the squad. If one of them doesn't want to accept the competition inside the dressing room, they can leave.
"I try to be honest and take decisions to find the best first XI, but the players have to accept if we want to become better, to compete for the top of the table, 11 players are not enough, 15 players are not enough. If you analyse Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Milan, there is a big competition inside the dressing room."