Tottenham, will essentially be paying £60million for four years of service if they complete a deal to sign Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United.
Spurs made a bold move this week to sign the Italian in a big-money move in what has been described as a "statement signing" by the Lilywhites.
After finishing 17th in the Premier League for the second season in a row, owners the Lewis Family have vowed to invest in the team and new head coach Roberto De Zerbi - the club's fourth manager in less than a year when he arrived at the end of March.
Big signings have already been made by Tottenham
De Zerbi guided the club away from the embarrassment of relegation to the Championship, with a 1-0 win over Everton on the final day of the season securing their status as a Premier League side.
Work has already begun on revamping the squad De Zerbi inherited from Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor with Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi arriving from Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively. Tottenham have also agreed a deal worth £52million to sign Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton.
They are all defensive signings, with De Zerbi moving up the pitch to make further additions too, which is where Tonali comes in. De Zerbi is pushing for a move to sign his fellow Italian this summer to add bite to his midfield in N17.
GIVEMESPORT understands Spurs want to make a statement signing this summer and with Newcastle United expecting a fixed fee of around £85million, with £15million or so in add-ons to take a deal up to the £100million mark, Tonali would certainly be that.
The Magpies are willing to let Tonali leave this summer, although the departure was expected to be to a club competing in European competition next season, something Spurs are not.
For Tottenham, signing Tonali is an expensive, but necessary move that would take the club to the next level.
Last summer Spurs brought Joao Palhinha back to the Premier League, on loan from Bayern Munich and did have an option to buy the Portuguese for around £26million this summer. De Zerbi admitted before the season ended that he would "100%" like to sign Palhinha permanently, but the option to buy was not taken up before the deadline and while Tottenham could still bring the 30-year-old back to N17, if they sign Tonali for £85million you've got to think a deal for Palhinha would be dead in the water.
According to DataMB, Tonali ranks higher when it comes to progressive passes, forward passes and ball carrying. Unsurprisingly, Palhinha fares better in the duels and averages more tackles pre 90 than the Italian.
Tonali's heat map for the 2025/26 season shows he does his best work between the two boxes and he actually created six big chances for teammates last season, with an expected assists figure of 2.89. Palhinha's heat map shows the bulk of his work being done in his own half, scoring more goals, popping up with crucial ones at crucial times for Spurs, but only creating one big chance with an xA of 0.66.
Tonali is a more well-rounded midfielder, who can operate in a defensive or more attacking role for De Zerbi. Palhinha, despite the goals, is perhaps more limited.
Spurs can finally show the rest of the big six they mean business
Then there's their ages. At 30, signing Palhinha does not offer any financial gain to Tottenham. He would likely be signing his last big contract if he were to come in on a £26million deal - the price of the option to buy with Bayern - and is entering the twilight of his career, albeit with a fair few years still ahead of him providing he stays injury free.
Tonali is four years the Portuguese's junior, and depending on the length of contract and how long the Italian can play on for, Spurs could actually still go on and sell him down the line and make some money back.
It's a big-money deal, but Spurs have been criticised for so long for not putting their money on the table and really challenging financially with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. Signing Tonali is a chance to prove their finally willing to make that change and battle for the best players and the biggest pieces of silverware with it.