A former Tottenham defender has revealed just how big a privilege it is for his home country to host Spurs for pre-season this summer.Pre-season will be the last thing on the mind of the Spurs leadership at the moment, with the club staring at the possibility of relegation for the first time in nearly 50 years.Roberto De Zerbi is expected to be announced as Tottenham’s next head coach, and the Lilywhites will be hoping that the Italian can galvanise the squad and get them to safety.The club may well be a Championship side when they play their pre-season fixtures in the summer, but that is not stopping them from planning their tours.Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty ImagesRyan Nelsen is delighted Tottenham are coming to New ZealandEarlier this week, Tottenham confirmed that they will be travelling to New Zealand for a pre-season friendly ahead of the 2026-27 season.The club will play two friendlies in Australia before travelling to New Zealand to take on Auckland FC on Sunday, 26 July at Eden Park.All Whites legend Ryan Nelsen, who is the only New Zealander to play for Tottenham, has now confessed that it is an honour for his country to host one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League.The former Spurs centre-back told 1 News: “It’s super impressive, the size of Tottenham globally is massive. They’re an international club, some famous players have played for that club, arguably one of the best stadiums in the world, they’ve got everything. To get them down onto New Zealand shores is exciting.“A lot of my family growing up were Spurs fans, I know it all too well. And quite rightly, they’ve always been a club outside of the Man U’s, Arsenals and Chelseas, the fun club to follow. And they’ve always played an entertaining brand of soccer that puts the fans through a rollercoaster of emotions, as we’re seeing right now.”Ledley King stresses importance of Spurs connecting with their global fan baseAs Tottenham’s brand ambassador, Ledley King has accompanied the players and the staff on pre-season tours around the world.The former Spurs captain confessed he has been blown away by how well supported the club is in various parts of the globe and stressed the importance of connecting with those fans.When asked about Tottenham’s trip to New Zealand, King said: “I’ve had the opportunity over the years to travel. It does blow my mind the support we have across the world, that’s why it’s so important to be able to come out here to New Zealand.”READ MORE: ‘Back where I belong’ – James Maddison joins in Tottenham training in latest video updateThe post I only played for Tottenham eight times but I’m excited to see them again this summer – Ryan Nelsen appeared first on Spurs Web.