Tottenham Hotspur have opened talks with Newcastle United over a deal for Sandro Tonali.
The north London club are vying with Manchester City to sign Tonali if he leaves St James’ Park — but by making club-to-club contact, it steps up the pursuit and underlines their intent to strike a deal.
Discussions between the 26-year-old midfielder’s representatives and both suitors continue, as they attempt to strike an agreement on personal terms.
Newcastle will seek about £100million ($133m) to consider selling the Italy international, whose contract runs until 2029 and has a 12-month extension option.
The Athletic reported on June 16 that Tottenham were in positive talks with Tonali’s camp, they had yet to engage Newcastle on the matter.
This has now changed and Spurs will hope that a high salary offer, head coach Roberto De Zerbi pushing for the transfer and the appeal of London may help swing the situation in their direction.
In addition to Tonali, Spurs are among multiple sides targeting Mateus Fernandes of West Ham United. Likewise, City’s push for Tonali does not impact their work to recruit Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.
Newcastle have remained open to selling Tonali this summer, should a bid meet their demands, having already sold winger Anthony Gordon for £69.3m to Barcelona.
In February, The Athletic reported that Arsenal had been offered Tonali by his agent towards the end of the January transfer window, but Newcastle were unwilling to entertain a deal so late on.
Tonali made 53 appearances for Newcastle in all competitions last season, scoring three times, as they finished 12th in the Premier League and reached the last-16 of the Champions League.
He moved to St James’ Park from Milan in July 2023 for a fee in the region of £60.5m, but received an immediate 10-month suspension in October of that year after being found guilty of breaching rules on gambling by the Italian Football Federation, subsequently missing the remainder of the season and Italy’s Euro 2024 campaign.
Since his return in August 2024, he has made 110 appearances for Newcastle, scoring 10 and assisting 10, forming a stellar partnership with club captain Bruno Guimaraes in midfield.
Tonali was born 19 miles south of Milan in the town of Lodi, coming through the youth set up at Serie C side Brescia and joining Milan initially on loan in 2020, signing permanently a year later.
Tonali signing would be statement of intent from Spurs
Analysis from Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Jay Harris
Spurs should be admired for the ambition they have shown in this transfer window. They have already completed the signings of Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi and have submitted two offers for Brighton & Hove Albion defender Jan Paul van Hecke.
They have acted shrewdly but pulling off a deal for Tonali would be a real statement of intent under De Zerbi. Fans could start truly getting excited again about the future after narrowly avoiding relegation on the final day of last season.
Spurs’ midfield has needed upgrading for the last two years. Yves Bissouma is leaving when his contract expires at the end of the month and there is uncertainty over whether Joao Palhinha’s loan from Bayern Munich will be made permanent. Rodrigo Bentancur impressed after returning from a hamstring injury for the final six games of the season and Conor Gallagher showed flashes of his quality following De Zerbi’s appointment. Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray are talented prospects but Tonali would instantly raise the team’s level.
The Italy international is a powerful box-to-box midfielder and pairing him alongside James Maddison and Bentancur is a tantalising prospect. It will be a difficult deal to pull off though. Tottenham’s club-record signing is the £65m they paid Bournemouth to sign Dominic Solanke in August 2024. Newcastle signed Tonali from Milan in July 2023 for a fee in the region of €70m and could expect to make a significant profit.
Spurs are committed to overhauling their squad this summer but the awkward question remains of how they will fund all these moves. Along with their interest in Tonali and Van Hecke, The Athletic has reported they want to sign a new left winger this summer with Manchester City’s Savinho a target. They need to sell players to raise funds and Brighton have given them a tricky dilemma by making multiple bids for centre-back for Luka Vuskovic. There is a strong chance captain Cristian Romero will leave, but they might have to wait until after his commitments with Argentina at the World Cup, and there is also uncertainty over the futures of Richarlison, Guglielmo Vicario and Radu Dragusin.
Spurs have traditionally held back on huge wages but senior figures have spoken in public about the need to address this. Convincing Pedro Porro to sign a new deal and following it up with the signing of Tonali would go some way to convince Spurs fans that this truly is a new era — even if the same majority shareholders, the Lewis family, remain in charge.