Tottenham have agreed to sign midfielder Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United in a deal worth £100million.
Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi had identified Tonali as his top target as part of a rebuild in North London following a second successive 17th-placed Premier League finish.
And, having already secured a £85m deal to sign midfielder Matheus Fernandes from West Ham, Tottenham are now set to add one of the most highly rated players at that position in the Premier League, bringing to an end Tonali’s three-year spell on Tyneside.
According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, the package will see Tottenham pay a £92.5m fee to Newcastle, with £7.5m in add-ons taking the deal to the Magpies’ £100m valuation of the Italy international.
Tottenham get their number one target
Tonali joined Newcastle from AC Milan for a fee of around £55m in 2023 before missing much of his first season due to a 10-month ban for a breach of betting regulations.
He had been linked with moves to Arsenal and Manchester City. However, the opportunity to play in London for De Zerbi clearly appealed to Tonali, despite the absence of European football at Spurs.
De Zerbi was born in Brescia, where Tonali graduated from the academy to make his professional debut. He played three seasons for Brescia before his move to AC Milan.
His arrival at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium marks the headline move in an extensive revamp of a Tottenham squad that narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship on the final day of last season.
Marcos Senesi, Andrew Robertson and Jan Paul van Hecke have all arrived to bolster the defence, while former Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka signed to likely serve as the backup to Antonin Kinsky.
Tonali and Fernandes will be expected to form a formidable duo in the midfield, though there remains reason for doubts about Tottenham going forward after a 2025-26 season in which they scored 47 league goals, the 12th-most in the Premier League. Attacking midfielder Xavi Simons is likely to miss a large period of the 2026-27 season having torn his ACL in April.
Newcastle make another big sale
For Newcastle, the sale of Tonali comes after they allowed England forward Anthony Gordon to join Barcelona in a deal believed to be worth €80million.
While Tonali’s form in 2025-26 was not of the standard of the previous season, when he played an instrumental role in Newcastle winning the EFL Cup and qualifying for the Champions League, his departure still leaves a sizeable hole in their midfield, where his work rate will be a huge loss.
The Magpies will hope his exit is the last major outgoing of the summer, though rumours persist around club captain Bruno Guimaraes, who has been linked with Arsenal.
While Newcastle fans will likely begrudgingly accept the departure of Tonali given the size of the fee, a sale of Guimaraes would be too much for most to countenance. As such, the club will be expected to take a much firmer stance should the Premier League champions attempt to test their resolve.
Unlike Tottenham, Newcastle’s business in response to a below-par season, in which they finished 12th while reaching the semi-finals of the EFL Cup and the last 16 of the Champions League, has been limited.
Newcastle did make an early signing by securing the services of France Under-21 goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen, bringing him in from Reims. However, the Magpies lost out to Liverpool in the race to sign Spain forward Victor Munoz, who was their top target to replace Gordon.
Incoming deals must now be the focus for Newcastle, who visit Tottenham in their second game of the new season on August 29.
