Tottenham are set to spend big money on Sandro Tonali and former England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer has had his say on the transfer
Alan Shearer presumes Roberto De Zerbi must have had it in his contract that Tottenham had to spend big this summer as the club close in on the £100million transfer of Sandro Tonali.
The arrival of the Newcastle midfielder would take Spurs' spending to £237million on three players, with Mateus Fernandes coming in for £85million from West Ham and Jan Paul van Hecke signed in a £52million deal from Brighton. De Zerbi has also got three free transfers through the door in the shape of Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka.
The deal for Tonali though has caused plenty of people to sit up and take notice as the north London outfit join the exclusive club of those able to sign a player for £100million or more.
BBC pundit Shearer had previously said that the Italian moving to Spurs would be a surprise career move but has now bemoaned the PSR rules as limiting his old club Newcastle and allowing the Lilywhites to spend and believes De Zerbi must have had a big summer written into the contract that convinced him to head to N17.
Tottenham of course have far more room to spend thanks to having had the lowest wages to revenue ratio in the Premier League thanks to the huge revenue they bring in each year from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and sponsors as well as a previously strict wage structure. The club have also qualified for European competition in 10 of the past 12 seasons, appearing in the Champions League in half of those campaigns.
"This is my argument in terms of the rules in football now on clubs spending. You've got a team who finished 17th twice in a row, yet they can go and blow everyone out of the water in terms of money-wise, where Newcastle can't. Newcastle have had to sell their best young players, had to sell their best players to comply with the rules," Shearer told Betfair.
"So, it never, ever sits easy with me. But that's Tottenham, that's fine, they can do that. I guess De Zerbi got that in his contract, if we stay up, this is what we have to do, otherwise I'm not coming. So, he's in a real power situation. The power is always with De Zerbi in terms of what he wants and what he can do. So, yeah, I'm fine with Spurs spending the money. It's just frustrating that Newcastle with the wealth can’t spend like that."
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He added: "I'm okay with Tonali leaving. As I previously said on this saga, if Newcastle set their fee at three figures and stick to it then that is fine and that's what they've got. I don't think he had a great season last season. We didn't see the Tonali we saw the season before, because he was incredible the season before.
"I thought by his own high standards, he didn't hit those heights last season at Newcastle. So, to get that much money for him, I think it's good. I think it's a good deal for Newcastle.
"They now have to spend that money wisely. By all accounts, they're going for young, hungry players in terms of £30-or-40-million-pound deals. So, if that's the case, then I'm okay with it."