Tottenham Hotspur are ready to sign Sandro Tonali after agreeing on a club-record fee of £100 million (about $133 million) for the Newcastle midfielder, several British media outlets reported on Wednesday.
Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi looks likely to win the race for the 26-year-old Italian, even with interest from Premier League champions Arsenal and rivals Manchester City.
Reports on Wednesday stated that an initial fee of £92.5 million plus an extra £7.5 million in add-ons will see Tonali join Spurs. This comes as they revamp their midfield after signing Mateus Fernandes from West Ham on Tuesday.
These two big-money moves show a big change in strategy for Spurs after they had a tight wage system under former chairman Daniel Levy.
The Lewis family, who own Tottenham, promised to fund a rebuild after they asked Levy to step down in September. They are keeping that promise after De Zerbi helped the team avoid relegation on the last day of last season.
The experienced trio of Andrew Robertson, Marcos Senesi, and Martin Dubravka have joined the club on free transfers. Spurs also spent about £52 million to sign Dutch defender Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton.
Fernandes is set to join Spurs in a deal worth £85 million.
Tonali’s career faced a setback due to a 10-month worldwide ban for gambling on football. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) banned Tonali in October 2023 for breaking the rule that stops players from betting on football events organized by itself, UEFA, and FIFA while he was in Italy.
The Italy midfielder moved to Newcastle from AC Milan in July 2023 for £55 million. His ban came after he had played 12 games for the Magpies.
In May 2024, Tonali received a suspended two-month ban after admitting to breaking the English Football Association's betting rules.
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