Tonali says De Zerbi convinced him to join Tottenham
Sandro Tonali has confirmed that Roberto De Zerbi was central to his decision to join Tottenham from Newcastle, in a deal Sky Sports reports is worth £92.5m plus £7.5m in achievable add-ons.
Speaking to Sky in Italy as he flew into a Milan airport en route to his medical, Tonali said he had interest elsewhere, including from Manchester City, but that De Zerbi’s involvement swayed him. The move, once completed, will be a club-record transfer for Spurs and Newcastle’s second-biggest sale behind the £125m Liverpool paid for Alexander Isak.
De Zerbi played a huge role in this decision… I don’t give him all the credit, but he deserves a lot. It was also a lifestyle and family choice. We had been in Newcastle for three years and last year our lives changed – our son was born, so we decided to completely change our lives.
Tonali added that De Zerbi
made a huge difference [at Tottenham]. He did his job, he did it very well and he was very talented so I think a lot of the credit goes to him. But having said that, he did it not only as a Brescia native and a friend, but he did it by truly demonstrating that he has a lot of work behind him and he’s committed to it.
A midfield De Zerbi wanted rebuilt
The tactical thinking behind the Tonali pursuit lines up with what Sky Sports’ Paul Merson has said publicly: Tottenham have too often been overrun in midfield, and De Zerbi has now brought in Tonali and Mateus Fernandes to address it directly. Merson called Tonali one of his favourite Premier League players and expects the pair to help Spurs push for a top-five finish next season, though he was careful to flag last season’s battering at Aston Villa as a reminder of how thin the margins were.
Tonali also stressed that he wanted the best possible deal for Newcastle, saying the two sides parted on good terms after prolonged talks. Reporting from the BBC adds further colour, with Tonali saying it took him just ten minutes to decide once De Zerbi – a fellow Brescia native – made contact after Spurs’ final-day escape at Everton last season; that account isn’t part of Sky’s reporting but fits the broader picture of a manager increasingly trusted with recruitment calls.
With Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka arriving on frees, Jan Paul Van Hecke for £52m and Fernandes for £85m, Sky Sports puts Tottenham’s total outlay this summer at £237m once Tonali’s deal completes. The fee is agreed but the transfer remains subject to Tonali passing his medical, so nobody at N17 should be printing shirts just yet – Spurs fans have learned that lesson the hard way before.
