Tottenham’s move into the race for Sandro Tonali represents the first big test of their new ambition.
Roberto De Zerbi has identified Tonali as the player he wants at the heart of his midfield – he believes Newcastle’s Italy international is a realistic target, and someone who has the elite quality together with the necessary strength and physical power required to excel in the Premier League.
At 26 and with a contract until 2029 and the option for another year however, Tonali will be expensive. If Newcastle accept he is determined to move on, they will peg his value to that of Elliot Anderson, who is expected to leave Nottingham Forest for Manchester City at a price well over £100million. Tonali has his suitors too, with Arsenal and Manchester United previously having registered an interest.
Spurs will have to shatter their transfer record, currently £65m for Dominic Solanke in 2024. This is new territory and an indicator of the level of the Lewis family’s ambition after the haunting scrape with relegation and a second successive 17th place finish in the Premier League.
Ever since the departure of chairman Daniel Levy last September there has been lots of lofty talk of sporting success from the new regime with little evidence to back it up.
Business in the January window was underwhelming despite growing fears of relegation. Spurs claimed they were ready to compete with the financial package to sign Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth but found Manchester City were simply too far ahead in the negotiating process. The Ghana winger ended up costing City an initial £62.5m.
Tottenham’s move into the race for Sandro Tonali represents the first big test of their new ambition
The club also had the finances to go in for Antoine Semenyo in January, but Manchester City were already too far along with the £62.5m deal
Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange were both quick to explain how their ambition remained the same and that they expected to be better placed in the summer market. And here we are. Nearly midsummer and De Zerbi has identified the central midfielder he wants to build everything around, an Italian, hailing like himself from Brescia via AC Milan, an international-class footballer, in his prime years and proven in the Premier League.
The new Spurs boss is in a position of power after negotiating his contract at a time when the club were in panic mode, then leading them to safety with 11 points from seven games.
The club’s failure to land another sporting director to work alongside Lange and replace Fabio Paratici also emboldens the head coach. Sebastian Kehl, formerly in a similar role at Borussia Dortmund, failed to reach an agreement.
Spurs have considered a range of others including Piero Ausilio of Inter Milan, who has a strong bond with De Zerbi having tried unsuccessfully to lure him from Sassuolo when Antonio Conte quit Inter in 2021. Ausilio though is not keen to leave Inter and the search is ongoing.
De Zerbi, meanwhile, is impatient to build a squad to compete at the top of the Premier League. He has made it clear that he wants experience, maturity, competition for places with alternatives in every position.
Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi have signed on free transfers. Pedro Porro has signed a new contract. Brighton have rejected two Spurs bids for Jan-Paul van Hecke and are holding out for £50m.
These are encouraging early moves for De Zerbi. Every coach wants to have new signings in the building as soon as possible. Savinho is a long-standing target still firmly in their sights and Manchester City’s 22-year-old Brazilian winger is interested in the move to London.
Swooping in for Tonali, however, is much more of a statement, signing a player from a club with the same aim to be regulars in the Champions League and beating competition with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United reported to be interested.
It explains why they did not take up the £30m option to sign Joao Palhinha after his loan from Bayern Munich, even though De Zerbi liked Palhinha and the Portugal midfielder wanted to stay
It explains why they did not take up the £30m option to sign Joao Palhinha after his loan from Bayern Munich. De Zerbi liked Palhinha and the 30-year-old Portugal midfielder wanted to stay, and perhaps later in the summer there will be reason to return and negotiate at a different price.
But Tonali is on another level. Spurs cannot offer him European football but can offer him top billing and regular football at the very centre of the new project under De Zerbi.
Moreover, it will make others sit up and wonder if they are finally serious about doing what they keep saying they will do.
