De Zerbi couldn’t be clearer.
The Spurs manager has just kept his team alive on matchday following a 1-0 win over Everton, but now is not the time for celebrations.
He was already looking forward to the summer to ensure the club never found themselves in this situation again.
“My goal is to start pre-season with the team I dream of,” he said at his final press conference last season.
That dream is quickly becoming a reality for the Italian after an aggressive start from Spurs.
Defenders Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi arrived on free transfers and the club could end up spending £237m on centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke and midfielders Fernandes and Tonali.
Spurs may have finished 17th in back-to-back seasons, but the club is feeling the benefit of strong off-field earnings and is hoping to bounce back.
Newcastle, by contrast, actually needed to trade in order to reinvest.
Seeing Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Tonali leave the club in less than a year is sobering.
So the focus will now be on earnings.
With striker Victor Munoz missing from Liverpool, Newcastle are in need of reinforcements.
The club have only signed 20-year-old goalkeeper Ewen Jawan, who is likely to start the season as a substitute having never played top-flight football before.
We have little room for error with pre-season just around the corner.