Sandro Tonali Impresses Tottenham Manager Roberto De Zerbi
Roberto De Zerbi did not bother dressing it up.
“Sandro Tonali is better than I thought.”
For a manager who chooses his words carefully, that is as close to a jolt as you get in early August.
Tottenham have hurled more than £300million at this transfer window, a statement summer that will soon include Savinho from Manchester City for £75m plus up to £10m in add-ons. Yet amid all that spending, one deal towers above the rest: £100m for Tonali from Newcastle, a club-record fee and a very clear bet on the future of their midfield.
De Zerbi knows exactly what he has walked into. Expectations, price tags, scrutiny. None of it is new at Spurs. What is different is his familiarity with the player at the heart of it all.
Tonali and De Zerbi are bound by Brescia. The city shaped the coach, and the club shaped the midfielder, who spent nine years there between youth and senior football. This is not a relationship built on a few scouting reports and a hurried phone call; it is layered with shared roots and long-standing trust.
Asked on Friday what the first weeks with the Italy international have told him, De Zerbi did not hesitate.
“Sandro Tonali is better than I thought,” he said. “He is better than I thought before working with him as a player and as a guy.
“I know his family, his agents, and I know they all are good people.
“I’m very happy to work with him and I think he’s the right player in the right place. Especially because we want to put him inside of the project.
“He has the right qualities, the right personality, the right values, to stay in this place.”
That word – project – matters. Tottenham have not paid £100m for a highlight-reel specialist. They have paid for a midfielder whose reputation has been built on balance, control and intelligence, the sort of profile De Zerbi has repeatedly elevated in his teams.
The numbers from last season with Newcastle were not glamorous. In 32 Premier League games, Tonali did not score. For some, that would be a red flag for a nine-figure signing. Spurs saw something else: a 26-year-old with the range to knit a side together, the temperament to absorb pressure, and the engine to shape games without needing the final touch.
De Zerbi’s verdict suggests Tottenham’s gamble already feels less like a risk and more like a cornerstone. The record fee will follow Tonali everywhere. If his manager is right, it might soon feel like the going rate for the player Spurs believe they now have.
