While Tottenham Hotspur fans are a lot less sour on Sandro Tonali than the national media and punditry circuit are, it is true that the Italian international has not quite been at his stellar best, nor has he been worth the 100 million pounds paid thus far.
There was always going to be an adjustment period, though, and Tonali has indeed shown improvement in recent weeks, playing an amazing game defensively against Nottingham Forest while looking passable against Everton before missing the League Cup loss to Liverpool with an injury.
But while Tonali has been decent for Spurs in recent weeks, his defensive midfield counterpart Mateus Fernandes has already looked the part. Fernandes, aside from one subpar performance as the No. 10 against Everton last weekend, has been much more creative than the former Newcastle United man, and he has already looked like he is worth his own hefty transfer price of 85 million pounds.
Tottenham fans are not questioning Mateus Fernandes at all
Nobody around Tottenham Hotspur is questioning if Fernandes was worth 85 million from West Ham United, even though plenty of jealous Manchester United supporters, for example, were deriding Roberto De Zerbi and Johan Lange for making that signing.
But while Sandro Tonali still has plenty of people at N17 hesitating to say that he looks like a 100 million pound player and has not yet established himself as an alpha in that Tottenham midfield, Mateus Fernandes already looks and plays the part.
Between the two of them, Fernandes is seen as the more essential starter for Tottenham, and Spurs fans already quickly have that feeling that they need the young Portuguese international in their starting 11 in order to win games. Tonali does not yet have that vibe or aura about him, and, in fact, between the two holding veteran midfielders, Rodrigo Bentancur has looked like a bigger standout and an even better stabilizer and defender than the former AC Milan man.
That is not to say that Tonali has been a bust or that Tottenham and its fan base do not have confidence in the Scudetto winner's ability to truly break out into a 100 million pound Premier League midfielder, but it is to praise Fernandes for, at a younger age, quickly establishing himself as a crucial starter for Spurs and someone the team needs to build around. And hopefully, soon enough, he will get to play every week in his natural double pivot role as a 6/8 hybrid.