Football Italia

Tottenham coach Roberto De Zerbi insists he’s ‘sure’ about the qualities of Spurs’ summer signings, including Sandro Tonali: ‘Even if they don’t play well, I can’t change my idea now.’

De Zerbi’s Tottenham are still winless in the opening three Premier League games of the season, having grabbed two losses and one draw so far.

Tomorrow, they host Everton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham made Tonali the most expensive Italian player ever last summer by paying circa €115m to secure his services from Newcastle.

The Italian, like most of his Tottenham teammates, has failed to impress so far, but De Zerbi has no doubt about his abilities.

Tottenham vs. Everton: De Zerbi’s pre-match press conference

When asked about what he expects from new signings in the upcoming matches, De Zerbi replied (via Football London): “The qualities, for sure, because I am sure about the qualities of Robertson, Senesi, Mateus Fernandes, Tonali, Savio, JP van Hecke, and Marmoush.

“I am sure. Even if they don’t play well, I can’t change my idea now. And then I would like to see one team playing with courage, with energy, to try to dominate the game, dominate the pressure with the right spirit, with the spirit I like.”

Tottenham drew their most recent game away at Nottingham Forest.

“In Nottingham we played normal Premier League games against one physical team, one team who played the second ball,” De Zerbi said.

“I think we didn’t concede a shot on our goal. We had one clear chance with Micky van de Ven on set-pieces and two big, big potentials.

“One was Tonali for Savino in the first half, and in the second half, Marmoush for Kudus and Andy Robertson. So I think it was a normal game. We can play much better, for sure. We are not happy. Pressure, no.

“Playing against Everton is the same, because Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Pickford, Dewsbury-Hall, all of them, Mykolenko, Grealish, are very good players, very physical players,” De Zerbi added.

“They know very well the Premier League, but I think we have to be focused on our qualities.

“We have to be focused on what we have to do on the pitch and play without thinking about other things in the head.”

Pape Matar Sarr completed a full training session with the Juventus squad on Friday and is expected to be available for Sunday’s away game at Sassuolo.

Multiple sources in Italy, including Sky Sport Italia, report that Sarr completed a full training session with the rest of the Juventus squad on Friday, joining his teammates on the field for the first time since his initial loan move from Tottenham on deadline day.

Sarr trained separately after moving to Turin to regain match fitness, and he now seems ready to be part of the squad.

Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti really needs depth in central midfield, as Weston McKennie, Khephren Thuram and Manuel Locatelli are injured.

McKennie continued to train separately on Friday, which means he’ll likely miss Sunday’s game against Sassuolo, reports Sky. The same is true of Italy international Andrea Cambiaso.

Thuram and Locatelli, on the other hand, underwent surgeries over the last few days and will be sidelined for several months.

Thuram is expected to return in January 2027, while Locatelli won’t be back for five or six months following meniscus surgery.

Sandro Tonali’s agent says Tottenham had ‘a very clear idea’ of the Italian midfielder who ‘deserved’ to become the most expensive Italian player ever, while Honest Ahanor’s move to Chelsea highlights that Italy still has plenty of emerging talent.

Riso gave an interview to Tuttosport discussing some of the biggest deals he completed with his clients during the summer transfer window, including Tonali and Ahanor.

Tonali became the most expensive Italian footballer ever by joining Tottenham from Newcastle for circa €115m.

‘Tottenham had a very clear idea of Tonali’

“There are many years of work behind such an operation. I’m not the one who set the record: it’s Sandro who deserved it on the field,” Riso said.

“I made a few more phone calls at most,” he added, smiling.

“Tottenham are a club that had a very clear idea of Sandro. When a company makes you understand that a player is a priority, everything becomes easier.”

Another Riso client, Ahanor, joined Chelsea from Atalanta in a €46m deal. The 18-year-old will effectively play for the Blues starting from 2027-28 as he’ll spend the current campaign on loan at Crystal Palace.

“For Atalanta, it is undoubtedly a great operation. But if such a young boy reaches such an evaluation, it also means that even today in Italy we have talent and know how to cultivate it,” Riso said.

“The fact that they stay here [in Italy] is not central, especially if their destination is the Premier League, a league I have often described as the NBA of football and which, as such, can certainly contribute decisively to their growth.

“It is highly challenging and returns them stronger to our national team. The real challenge for Serie A is to create the conditions for these guys to grow up here, before having to sell them.”

Ahanor had become the second-most expensive U17 Italian player only one year ago, when he moved to Atalanta from Genoa for €15m plus add-ons.

The versatile 18-year-old defender made his senior Italy debut this past June under caretaker coach Silvio Baldini.

Juventus have officially announced their signing of Senegal international Pape Matar Sarr on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the Serie A transfer window.

Click here to follow all the latest confirmed Serie A transfers on the Football Italia Liveblog.

Official: Juventus sign Sarr on loan with option to buy from Tottenham

Sarr joins the Old Lady on loan from Tottenham until the end of June 2027 at a cost of €2.5m, coming in at a cost of €2.5m with ancillary costs of €300,000, Juventus have confirmed.

Juventus will also have an option to buy Sarr on a permanent basis for a further €27.5m, which will be payable over the course of three financial years.

The 23-year-old midfielder joins Juve after five years on Tottenham’s books, having joined from Metz as a teenager in the summer of 2021. He remained with the French side for the 2021-22 season before going on to make 107 Premier League appearances with Spurs over the last four appearances.

He is a 42-time Senegal international at the age of 23 and was part of the Senegal national team squad for both the 2026 and 2022 World Cups.

He is the seventh Juventus signing of the summer transfer window following the previous additions of Randal Kolo Muani, Kerim Alajbegovic, Jhon Lucumi, Guglielmo Vicario, Jeff Ekhator and Zeki Celik. Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade is also expected to join on loan on deadline day.

The latest reports on Monday indicate that Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur now have an agreement in place for the transfer of central midfielder Pape Matar Sarr, who is set to join the Bianconeri on loan with a potential obligation to buy.

Tottenham sanction Sarr sale to Juventus

According to the latest updates from Sky Sport Italia, Tottenham have now given their green light for Sarr to travel over to Italy to complete his transfer to Juventus.

Juve have moved quickly to secure the Senegal international after learning that Franck Kessie had decided to return to Atalanta rather than join Luciano Spalletti in Turin.

According to Sky, Juventnus will pay a total of €30m between the cost of the loan fee and the buy clause assuming that Sarr’s transfer is made permanent. The obligation to buy will be triggered in the event of Europa League qualification and is Sarr appears in at least 50% of the team’s matches in 2026-27.

Fabrizio Romano specifies that Juventus will pay a loan fee of €2m and that the option to buy will be for €28m.

Sarr looks likely to become Juventus’s eighth signing of the summer transfer window following the previous arrivals of Guglielmo Vicario, also from Tottenham, plus Randal Kolo Muani, Kerim Alajbegovic, Jeff Ekhator, Jhon Lucumi, Zeki Zelik and Kamil Grabara.

Juventus are not only working on the final details for Pape Mata Sarr from Tottenham Hotspur, on loan with option to buy for a total €33m, but also reportedly asked Sassuolo for Darryl Bakola.

The Bianconeri need reinforcements in the final hours of the transfer window, especially if losing both Kenan Yildiz and Khephren Thuram to long-term injuries.

Negotiations were already at an advanced stage yesterday for Sarr, who Spurs coach Roberto De Zerbi publicly confirmed had asked to leave the club.

Juventus waiting for Sarr to fly out

They are now said to be down to the details, in what should be a paid loan at €3m with option to buy for a further €30m, potentially becoming an obligation if certain difficult to achieve conditions are met.

The midfielder has already agreed personal terms with Juventus and is pushing to get the transfer through.

Meanwhile, Belgian transfer pundit Sacha Tavolieri claims that the Bianconeri have also approached Sassuolo to ask for Bakola.

The midfielder won’t celebrate his 19th birthday until November and only came to Sassuolo in February 2026 for €10m plus €2m add-ons from Olympique Marseille.

Notably, that deal was negotiated by Giovanni Carnevali, who left Sassuolo in the summer to take over the Juventus transfer strategy.

He can now discuss the situation with his old club and try to get a good deal for the French talent.

Roberto De Zerbi confirms Pape Mata Sarr ‘asked to leave’ and there are reports the player agreed personal terms with Juventus, but Tottenham Hotspur want some obligation to buy.

There had already been suggestions on Friday that Sarr was on the Bianconeri radar to reinforce the midfield, which became more urgent after primary target Franck Kessie instead signed for Atalanta as a free agent.

Sarr and Juventus pressuring Tottenham

It is now beyond doubt that Sarr is pushing for a transfer to Juventus, especially after Tottenham coach De Zerbi confessed in a press conference that he was one of three players who had “asked to leave” the club.

Transfer pundit Fabrizio Romano also states that Sarr agreed personal terms with the Serie A side, but again that was never going to be the issue.

The problem now is that Juventus want it to be a loan with option to buy at the end of the season, whereas Spurs are determined to include some sort of conditional obligation.

It is likely the clubs will be able to work out a formula for the transfer, although it is a race against time to get it done by transfer deadline day.

Juventus have asked Tottenham Hotspur for the availability of midfielder Pape Mata Sarr on loan, claim Sky Sport Italia, after Franck Kessie talks broke down.

The Bianconeri are still in search of someone to bolster their midfield options and bring some physicality to the role.

Juventus ask after Sarr

Sarr has not played at all for Spurs so far this season and is not part of coach Roberto De Zerbi’s plans.

Officially, he is also suffering from a hamstring issue after the World Cup with Senegal, but Tottenham would prefer to sell rather than let him leave on loan.

Aston Villa and Besiktas are among the clubs who have already shown an interest in him this summer, and the asking price is in the region of €30m.

That is not something that Juventus are prepared to pay, so they are asking for a loan with possible option to buy at the end of the season.

It would be the second loan agreement with the Premier League club for Juve after goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Spurs paid €17m to buy Sarr from FC Metz in 2021 and the midfielder will celebrate his 24th birthday next month.

He already has 42 senior caps for Senegal, and the contract in London runs to June 2030.

Italy international Sandro Tonali starts for Tottenham against his former club Newcastle United with Azzurri coach Roberto Mancini in attendance in North London.

Italy’s star Tonali starts against his former club Newcastle today. The 26-year-old is included in Tottenham’s starting XI for today’s Premier League Round 2 fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It kicks off at 18:30 CET [17:30 BST]

Tonali joined Tottenham in a deal exceeding €108m this summer, becoming the most expensive Italian footballer ever.

He played the full game in Tottenham’s 2026-27 Premier League debut away at Brentford, which saw Spurs suffer a 3-0 loss.

Another Italian player, Destiny Udogie, starts on the bench for Tottenham against Newcastle today.

Today’s fixture in North London will be closely followed by Italy coach Mancini, who, according to Gazzetta, will be in the stands at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Mancini will announce his Italy squad for the September break in the coming days and will spend the weekend in England, attending Leeds-Brentford and Aston Villa-Arsenal as well.

Tottenham vs. Newcastle – confirmed line-ups

Tottenham: Kinsky, Porro, van de Ven, van Hecke, Robertson, Gray, Bentancur, Tonali, Fernandes, Marmoush, Tel.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Roberto Mancini will be in the stands this weekend to watch Italian players in three Premier League games: Tottenham-Newcastle, Leeds-Brentford and Aston Villa-Arsenal.

Italy coach Mancini is preparing to announce his first call-ups in his second spell as La Nazionale’s boss.

Mancini travels to England to watch Italians in the Premier League

According to Gazzetta, the ex-Manchester City boss has travelled to England to watch some Italian players in action this weekend, starting with today’s Tottenham-Newcastle in North London.

Mancini will be watching new Spurs signing Sandro Tonali and, potentially, Destiny Udogie as well, even if the ex-Udinese man is not expected to start.

On Sunday, Mancini will watch Leeds-Brentford, focusing mostly on Michael Kayode. Wilfried Gnonto is under contract with Leeds and made his senior Italy debut under Mancini in 2022, but the 22-year-old is currently injured and is expected to return in September.

On Monday, Mancini will be in Birmingham to watch Aston Villa-Arsenal, with two Italian defenders potentially involved: Matteo Ruggeri for the home side and Riccardo Calafiori for the Gunners.

Last week, Mancini was in the stands for Parma-Cagliari for the opening Serie A game of the 2026-27 season.

Mancini, 61, was re-appointed as the Azzurri coach in July, signing a contract until June 2030.

He’ll make his second debut as Italy’s head coach on September 25 in a home Nations League game against Belgium.