Tottenham's Pursuit of Tonali: De Zerbi's Ambitious Midfield Vision
Tottenham Hotspur have spent the early weeks of the summer window acting like a club tired of watching others set the pace. Now they are moving for a statement signing. Sandro Tonali is the name at the top of Roberto De Zerbi’s list, and the Newcastle United midfielder is understood to be keen on making the switch to north London.
This is not a gentle enquiry. It is a push.
Spurs, already busy with smart free transfers and targeted deals, have “entered the race” for Tonali, according to Fabrizio Romano, and they are prepared to go toe-to-toe with Manchester City and Arsenal to get him. De Zerbi, newly installed and already reshaping the squad’s identity, views the Italian as the player to drag his midfield to a different level.
“De Zerbi wants Tonali as new star for the midfield, ideal to step up Tottenham level,” Romano reported on X, framing the move as a central plank of Spurs’ new, more ambitious project.
De Zerbi, Tonali and a Brescia Bond
Managers often talk about “profiles” and “projects”. De Zerbi has something more tangible with Tonali: a shared footballing upbringing.
Both come from Brescia, the northern Italian city that has quietly produced a line of technically gifted, fiercely competitive midfielders. That shared background matters here. Romano describes the connection as “excellent”, stressing that it is not just about nationality but about a shared city, a shared football culture. De Zerbi is said to be pushing hard inside the club to land Tonali “as soon as possible”.
The pursuit is not just manager-driven. On the player’s side, the door is clearly open.
Romano says Tonali is “keen on a move to Tottenham”, “open to joining Tottenham” and “ready to join Spurs even without European football, even after a terrible season for them”. Those are not the words of a player casually monitoring his options. They are the stance of someone ready to buy into a project that is still under construction.
Tonali, one of the Premier League’s standout midfielders over the past couple of seasons, has been circling the Big Six conversation for some time. Arsenal tried to prise him away in January and kept his name on their list. Now Spurs, under a coach whose footballing ideas align naturally with Tonali’s game, have stepped directly into that fight.
Spurs’ New-Found Intent
Tottenham’s summer has already carried a different tone. They moved quickly to secure Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi on free transfers, bolstering experience and depth. Deals for Savinho, Jan Paul van Hecke and Joao Palhinha are also being worked on, signalling a clear strategy: build a spine, raise the technical ceiling, and do it fast.
Tonali would be the crown jewel of that plan. A top name, a top player in a key area of the pitch. As Romano put it, “Tottenham want to do something very, very important in terms of a top player, top name in midfield.”
For a club without European football next season, that kind of ambition is a deliberate statement. It says Spurs are not content to wait for the table to tilt back in their favour. They intend to force it.
Newcastle Dig In
There is, however, a large, immovable object in the way: Newcastle United’s valuation.
Newcastle have already eased some financial pressure by offloading Anthony Gordon, which means they are under no obligation to cash in on Tonali. TEAMtalk report that the club have “no intention of making it easy for any club hoping to sign Sandro Tonali this summer” and will only “begin to consider a sale if offers exceed £100million”.
That is a figure designed to test resolve. It is also a figure that underlines just how highly Newcastle rate him.
Negotiating with Newcastle, Romano warned, “is never easy”. Spurs know this. Manchester City and Arsenal know it too. Any deal will be a long, attritional process rather than a quick smash-and-grab. The timing, Romano stressed, “will depend on negotiations with Newcastle”, and that is where this story could drag.
For Newcastle, the equation is simple: they hold a prized asset, under contract, central to their project. Selling him would mean ripping out a key piece of their midfield, unless the money is so significant that it reshapes their own window.
A Serious, Concrete Possibility
What lifts this beyond routine transfer noise is the clarity on both sides. De Zerbi wants him. Tonali wants De Zerbi. Spurs want a marquee midfielder. The player, Romano insists, is “attracted by the project” and sees the possibility of joining Tottenham as “really serious, it’s really concrete”.
That alignment does not guarantee a transfer. It does, however, create pressure. Pressure on Spurs’ hierarchy to back their new manager with the type of signing that changes a dressing room’s belief. Pressure on Newcastle to decide whether a nine-figure offer, if it comes, is too big to refuse.
For Tottenham, the question now is blunt: are they willing to cross the £100m threshold to land a midfielder who embodies their new direction? Or will Tonali remain the one that got away, a Brescia-born ideal who never made it to N17?
