Tottenham have confirmed the signing of Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United in a deal that becomes the biggest in the club's history. The transfer package totals up to £100m, made up of an initial £92.5m fee plus £7.5m in add-ons tied to European qualification. It beats the £85m Spurs paid West Ham for Mateus Fernandes earlier in the same window, meaning Tottenham have broken their transfer record twice in one summer.
For Newcastle, it is a significant profit on a player they signed relatively recently. They brought Tonali in from AC Milan in the summer of 2023 for around £55m, so this sale nets them roughly £45m more than they paid, even after losing one of their most reliable midfielders.
The move is built around Tottenham's head coach, Roberto De Zerbi. The Italian has known Tonali since his days coming through the youth ranks at Brescia, their shared hometown club, and has followed his progress ever since. De Zerbi called him 'a special player and a great signing for our club,' adding that Tonali was clear he wanted to join Spurs despite reported interest from elsewhere, including Manchester City. Tonali himself said a lengthy conversation with De Zerbi sealed his decision, describing it as feeling 'close to magic' and insisting there was only ever one destination in his mind once that talk happened.
Newcastle lose a player who had become central to their midfield since arriving from Italy. Tonali served a betting-related suspension before establishing himself on Tyneside, but by this season he was a regular starter, valued for his composure on the ball, his progressive passing and his work rate without it. He topped 100 interceptions again this season and was among the Premier League's leaders for that stat, underlining the defensive side of his game. His output in front of goal remained modest — no goals and only a couple of assists in the league this season — but Newcastle's midfield balance and ability to control matches will need addressing without him.
At Tottenham, Tonali arrives as a deep-lying midfielder who can dictate tempo, break up play and start attacks with his passing range, rather than a player expected to produce goals and assists himself. That profile fits De Zerbi's preference for a team that keeps the ball and builds patiently from deep, and gives Spurs a proven Premier League operator to sit alongside their more attack-minded additions this summer, including Fernandes.
The deal was completed in early July, with Tonali expected to link up with his new teammates as Tottenham's pre-season preparations continue before the new campaign.