The Mag

Intriguing reading these comments from Spurs fans ahead of facing Newcastle United later today.

Tottenham have avoided relegation by only one place in the table in each of the last two Premier League seasons.

Thomas Frank was sacked on 11 February 2026, the day after Spurs fans saw their team lose 2-1 at home to Newcastle United.

A chaotic time as the final three and a half months of last season had three different managers for Tottenham.

Spurs fans finally saw their club avoid disaster on the final day of the 2025/26 campaign when winning 1-0 at home to Everton.

A remarkable run of ‘form’ meant that was only a second Premier League home victory Spurs fans had seen since 16 August 2025.

After a dismal performance that saw Tottenham lucky to lose only 3-0 at Brentford last weekend, it was a bit of a reality check for the club and supporters after having had a huge net spend this summer, going all-in under Roberto de Zerbi.

Spurs fans commenting ahead of facing Newcastle United today via their top supporters forum:

‘This match is so important to not lose at home. I am not saying that if we win that dreadful home form of last season will be forgotten but lose and all the tensions between the players & the fans will return. Last season it seemed we expected disaster every home match and got it & the booing at half time did not help even if deserved. We need a run of not losing at home to get that out of our system.’

‘I was impressed with these against Liverpool. Elanga looked very dangerous and they were set up to break and were doing it well with pace and power.

We are still undercooked so I would take a draw.

Its going to take us a while to get going.

That said I hope Tonali comes in and dominates them and we smash them with goals from Omar and Savio.’

‘They’re a pretty insignificant club but I always want to (and like) beating these

Strange fans, strange reputation given to them by the media as well. Always spoken about as a big club but they’ve been relegated more times than they’ve won trophies in the last 70 years

I put them on par with a Brighton or Bournemouth. Lots of local fans but you wouldn’t miss them if they go down, and they probably will within the next 5 years.’

‘Personally I think he knows we’re going to improve massively under De Zerbi and his new squad.

They’ve been dismantled, and even though they had a good performance last week, it’s probably a tough pill to swallow, and of course we took Tonali.

Where we likely heading is in the opposite direction and a reminder of where they sit in the food chain probably stung as well.

Jealousy raised its ugly head basically.’

‘Geordies are no strangers to the second div are they. Only another 70 yrs to wait for the next trophy.’

‘Officially declaring this our first ‘not a free hit’ league game of the season.’

‘Tough game but we need to get going in the Premier League to ease the mood.’

‘Seems like Osula is out for them, which is good news – he’s pretty crucial to their counter attacks.’

‘Crucial to them full stop.

He looks a real talent and the one thing Newcastle can’t afford, setting aside this game is for him to be out for too long.

They still have Elanga, Wissa, who looks fit again, and Barnes, so they have plenty of pace about them.

Onus will be on us but they look like they have re-stocked well despite the loss of some key players. They will be fine this season and have now got Gonzalez who will give them midfield calm.

It won’t be an easy game, even with Osula looking like he is out. Might depend how well Newcastle travel and what this new guy demands of them.’

‘Agree though Elanga and their new rb is apparently lightning quick.’

‘Means Van Hecke, Van Der Ven and Woltemade can have a non-jump off with each other to see who’s worse at timing their headers.’

‘Went for thrilling draw but heart says biscuits.

They look dangerous on the counter. Our defence doesn’t look right just yet but I feel more confident after seeing Fernandes and Savio.’

‘Messy game – could go either way, but I’ll be optimistic with a 3-2 win.

Playing against a god-awful Charlton B-Team papered over passing and defending issues that carried over from Brentford.

We just need Newcastle to be more of a mess than us, and to be ready for direct counter-attacks when we inevitably lose the ball high up the pitch against their block.’

‘Newcastle looked decent against Liverpool and we looked hot trash against Brentford. I can see Newcastle letting us have the ball much like they did against Liverpool and trying to hit us on the break so Micky is a must and if Udogie is good to go then he has to play. I can see both teams having good moments and both teams looking shaky. The Desmond looks nailed on.’

‘Newcastle have lots of pace. Definitely need VDV in the backline and Udogie. Robertson will get smoked in this game I think’

‘Woltemade will play I guess, gonna weaken them because they looked good on the counter last week.’

‘This relegation 6 pointer is coming early in the season and must be treated as the 6 pointer it truly is.

Drop Bergvall and Richarlison and we can probably get a point or 3.’

‘I think it’s very important how we win this. There needs to be flair and we need to make Tottenham and our stadium fun again. Newcastle are still a good side and will have spells but we need to put the football of seasons past behind us and get back to playing beautiful front foot style and being able to open teams up. COYS!!!’

‘With Robertson, Gallagher and richy getting no minutes yesterday it kinda of feels they will start?’

‘That would be an incredibly stupid mistake…’

‘Need all 3 tomorrow or I think the noise will get very loud around us. Let’s belt them.’

‘Seems like a pragmatic 1-1 scoreline.

We have a very exciting group of players coming in but many are not fit or are just getting integrated into the team.

If this fixture were in two months time then I might be more comfortable predicting a demolition but for now, I think a positive point seems likely. Hopefully with some players we’ve been missing getting a run out.’

‘This will be a slog

No way Newcastle will allow an open game with all our new signings and the stadium just waiting for an excuse to get excited.’

‘Newcastle will sit deep and hit on the counter – no Osula but Wissa and Elanga will cause plenty of problems.

Could do with us scoring early and then being very patient and forcing them to change their approach.’

‘The match I dread with half my connected family coming from up there.

What I’ve suffered at her hands these last few years is borderline abuse.

Come on Spurs. You owe me.’

‘What are we scared of Wissa and Elanga now

Had one good game last week, what about the whole of last season.

‘My gut instinct says Tonali needs to get past this game, even though it’s at our ground, because their fans are bound to give him stick. No player can like or be unaffected by that.

Hopefully Tonali shows the Newcastle contingent what they lost, and then grows from there.’

‘This has got Tonali goal written all over it.

They’re pretty sh.. I fancy us to win this handily.’

‘Let’s just try and get at Newcastle, and break their spirit.

An early goal would be very welcome.’

‘Newcastle looked effective v Liverpool, particularly on the break and will press us aggressively which we don’t like (see last week). Their quick front line against our pedestrian one is another problem.’

An official Tottenham injury update ahead of the Newcastle United match.

Roberto de Zerbi hoping to bounce back after a disastrous start to the Spurs season.

Tottenham were battered by Brentford on the opening Premier League weekend of the season, lucky to only lose 3-0.

Roberto de Zerbi now facing Newcastle United.

The Spurs boss now giving this Tottenham injury update ahead of playing United on Saturday at 5.30pm.

Roberto de Zerbi: “Maybe Mohammed Kudus can be on the bench, we have to see. Micky Van de Ven is right to play [some part but] we have a look, we have to understand at the beginning, or part of the game, like Savio, like Pedro Porro. Omar] Marmoush is available to play, maybe also at the beginning of the game. Destiny Udogie is a good use for us, he’s very important. He played 60 minutes well against Charlton [on Wednesday], as was the plan.”

Tottenham with a huge net spend this summer and seemingly more to come.

Roberto de Zerbi on his latest expensive Tottenham signing Omar Marmoush: “A great signing for us, a great player, another great player. Every one of us love him as a player and we hope he can do what he is able to. I think he can give more solutions in attack, we need players in attack capable to score goals, to play well with the ball also. Very fast player, great qualities and we are all happy, very happy.”

Newcastle United have now had an opening offer for Lucas Bergvall rejected.

The Athletic with the exclusive on Friday night.

David Ornstein revealing that United put in a bid of around £46m for the Norway international.

However, the man from The Athletic saying that this initial bid has been knocked back by Tottenham.

Ornstein says that Tottenham will be prepared to sell the 20-year-old this summer if a club meets their valuation but that whilst Newcastle United have offered more than previous Nottingham Forest bids, NUFC still haven’t offered enough to satisfy Spurs.

Lucas Bergvall has five years left on his Tottenham contract but The Athletic say their sources have told them that the midfielder has told the club he wants to leave this summer.

Lucas Bergvall has made 78 appearances for Tottenham since joining the club in a £8.5m deal from Swedish side Djurgarden in 2024. This includes 33 appearances for Spurs in all competitions last season.

In January, Bergvall had surgery after sustaining a high sprain on his left ankle and was sidelined until March.

After a relatively short period of “will he?”, “won’t he?”, our Italian thoroughbred Sandro Tonali has finally said “Ta-da” to Tyneside.

He leaves behind, to varying degrees, a depressed and frustrated fan base.

Sad to lose such a classy player who had contributed so much to our recent successes but also, with the best will in the world, feeling let down – at least to some extent – at the sight of a man they had stood by in his ten months of need leaving for the bright lights of London and a club seemingly entrenched in the nether regions of the Premier League.

Why would Sandro Tonali do this?

His parting statement was quite classy and, I believe, heartfelt. He certainly seemed to have formed an emotional attachment to the club, to Eddie Howe and the Newcastle United fans who stuck by him and showed him tremendous support and understanding from day one.

As in any important decision made in life, the reasoning will have been complex.

Being a professional sportsman with a short career relative to us mere mortals, it must always be acknowledged that money talks. Sandro Tonali was reportedly on £150,000 per week at Newcastle United, contracted to 2029 with a year extension that could be triggered unilaterally by the club.

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly agreed to pay £275,000+ per week to Sandro Tonali as part of a six-year contract. That’s an extra £6.5 million per year, £39 million over six seasons.

I absolutely defy anyone reading and/or contributing to The Mag to tell me they would pass up an offer of that magnitude. Some of the more severe critics of Sandro Tonali, since he made his decision, have referred to him as a mercenary and bewailed his lack of loyalty. Well, mercenaries are people who contract themselves out for limited periods of time for financial remuneration. That sounds suspiciously like the life of a pro footballer to me. He’s doing what successful footballers do!

As for loyalty, what does that mean in the modern game? I can remember the stick dished out to Alexander-Arnold as he prepared to move on to Real Madrid. Rather than lauding his loyalty in staying with Liverpool for the duration of his deal (what I always believed was “honouring” a contract) the stock descriptions of his behaviour on The Mag was that he was “cynically running down his contract and depriving the club of a final pay-off!” In terms of disloyal behaviour, I hesitate to even mention a certain Alexander the Ingrate.

Attractive as the extra money undoubtedly must be to him, another vitally important ingredient in any young footballer’s decision-making has to be family. People ask, “Why Spurs? 17th two seasons running and sacking managers for fun.”

Despite repeated rumours of Arsenal wanting to sign him, only Spurs emerged from the woodwork to make, in the end, what I would consider a very reasonable offer. But maybe there could be more about a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium than money and family considerations

After some farcical musical chairs involving the management seat, the Spurs Board eventually made what I see, anyway, as a sound appointment in Roberto de Zerbi. Not only a shrewd and successful manager but a compatriot of Tonali, he clearly has real ambition and the Board are obviously prepared to back him by loosening the strings to Tottenham’s giant sized purse.

So far, Spurs have signed Andy Robertson, Marco Senesi and Martin Dubravka on frees, as well as paying serious money for Van Hecke, Tonali and Fernandes, plus rumoured to be also interested in Somerville. On top of the very decent players that they already have, that represents a pretty useful Premier League squad being assembled. De Zerbi means business and will have had the opportunity to sell his vision to his countryman.

How damaging or otherwise is the loss of Sandro Tonali to the club? Will he be missed?

Stats suggest maybe not so much: across all competitions Sandro Tonali scored eight goals and managed eight assists for Newcastle United.

However, there is a lot more to a player than goal involvement stats. Who can’t remember being awed as he raced the length of the pitch late in a match to make a possibly goal saving interception/tackle/block. How many more points might we have dropped without his energy in midfield – even last season when he was relatively up and down in performance?

Some people put his erratic play down to a loss of interest because he had already decided he wanted away. Well, we can never know what’s inside someone’s head until the autobiography comes out so I can’t say those people are definitely wrong but I would offer up two additional factors – the virus he suffered from last year (Covid, perhaps?) and the arrival of the baby six months ago.

Where top professionals are concerned, I can never accept that their road to “bigger and better” clubs is via a lack of energy and/or effort on the pitch! If he wanted a move, a “promotion”. surely he would try harder to show that he was worth it?

So, at the end of the day, what of his legacy and fan reaction? These are a small sample of comments made on a Mag article when his decision was finally made public.

“ …. he did a great job for us, thanks for the trophy

good luck Tonali ….”

“Money, Wag and bright lights. After Nufc bailed him out and he wasted a year I sincerely hope he fails miserably.”

“Thankfully he more than played his part at Wembley and we should all remember that.”

“Nothing but a snake in my book.”

It would be interesting to see what sort of correlation exists between those slagging him off for his lack of loyalty and those desperate to give Eddie Howe the push because his standards (in the league) dropped last season. But that’s an argument for another time, perhaps.

In the man’s defence, I would point out that he volunteered to go without pay, or at least to have a cut, during his ban. After discussion, it seems that this is where the agreement was reached for a voluntary one year contract extension. He was clearly appreciative of the club standing by him and keen to repay that faith in some way. At the end of the day, that extra year on the contract will have added some sort of amount to the final Spurs offer.

My personal view concerning his legacy is that regardless of all other considerations, he came to us in the first instance and cemented his place in Newcastle United folklore by playing a significant part in ensuring that the team delivered something I thought I wasn’t going to see again in my lifetime- a trophy. That can never be taken away from him.

What are the implications for club policy in the future?

For me, sad as the situation undoubtedly is, it shows what we have to grin and bear for now. We can’t afford to keep all of our top performers. Although our commercial revenue has increased relatively quickly under these Newcastle United owners compared to the previous regime, it is still lagging well behind the pantomime villains of the Septic Six. In the short term, we can only boost revenue significantly through player sales. Shrewd wheeling and dealing is a route we have to take whether we as fans like it or not.

We got a very reasonable price for Tonali in the end which has boosted our ”war chest” nicely and the indications are that, under Ross Wilson’s guidance, we are trying to spend it wisely on young European players (Bazoumana Toure pictured below) with potential. Something many contributors to The Mag have been calling for.

With sales like this and well judged acquisition of young talent, I believe the club is taking a sensible and realistic decision. Last summer’s transfer window and this year’s debacle involving Munoz have clearly demonstrated that we just aren’t ready financially to try and live with the Premier League “cabal”. We have to think and act differently.

I’m looking forward to seeing what else develops during this Newcastle United transfer window and to see how we approach the forthcoming Premier League season.

Grazie, Sandro. Àrrivederci e buona fortuna.

Intriguing reading these comments from Spurs fans about the signing of Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United.

Just waiting for the official announcement.

Tottenham having agreed to pay £100m for Sandro Tonali and give him reported £300,000 a week wages.

Spurs fans commenting via their top supporters forum:

‘Sandro Tonali is a mega signing in the same category as singing Klinsmann or Gascoigne. Well done Spurs, you’re waking up.’

‘Tonali “Anything to get away from that new home kit”‘

‘I think both Villa and Newcastle would pull in huge crowds if they opened bigger stadiums. They definitely have the fan base and there’s not a lot else going on in those areas outside of trashy reality TV.’

‘Not a lot going on in the area? You never been a bloody Greggs like?’

‘Only Spurs could announce a partnership with a betting firm the day we potentially announce a player who got banned for betting offences.’

‘The narrative that he is just coming to Spurs for the money is weird. Football is his profession, no shit he does it for the money. Do people think he went to Newcastle for the weather?’

‘Who is saying that he’s going to spurs for the money?’

‘Tonali has always looked one of the best midfielders in the league, alongside Bruno G and Joelinton which on their day, particularly at home are formidable.’

‘Wouldn’t have been my absoiforst choice, and we’ve definitely overpaid by a good £20m, but I ain’t complaining a bit. Miles better than what we have, and if anything, it’s a clear statement of intent. Still in utter disbelief at this.

Wowzers.’

‘I’m still in disbelief we have signed Sandro Tonali.

He is an absolute rolls royce.’

‘I love watching Tonali, he’s football, can’t wait to see him playing for us.’

‘He eats spaghetti while drinking moretti & betting his money… its TONALI…. Tonali’

‘I wouldn’t recommend a chant about the betting charges, not from home fans anyway. It is an illness and he did go into treatment for it.’

‘Gallagher getting the number 8 before the season even kicked off was ridiculous. We were on the verge of signing Tonali — tell him to wait a couple weeks.

Instead, this ex‑Chelsea fraud keeps finding new ways to irritate Spurs fans even in the off‑season. Unbelievable how someone this limited ends up with a prestige number. He’ll pay for his crimes soon enough.’

‘Its good to watch and see other peoples jealously for Spurs finally splashing out when clubs like Man Utd, Citeh and Chelski have done it for so long

But it is farcical that clubs like Aston Villa and Newcastle with extremely wealthy owners are pigeon holed because of financial fair play regulations in place which make it unsustainable for those type of teams to ever mount serious challenges for future premier league and champions league titles.

These rules were written by the big teams to protect the big teams.

Im Spurs through and through but alot of my family are Villa fans so i have huge sympathy for these bullshit financial rules in play.

We will never see another surprise premier league winner like Leicester city with the constraints in place and i think its a sad thing for Football as a whole that is isnt a level playing field’

‘In defence of FFP or the new squad cost ratio the rich owners of Newcastle or Villa could easily spend a billion or two on a new money generating stadium and not be lazy and build a big FFP balance. I am glad Levy is now gone but I can’t deny the stadium is a powerhouse, all the money spent on infrastructure is also FFP excluded so you can spend what you like. All they need to do is get off their backsides and build properly.’

‘I’d have rathered Wharton, myself. Like I said, I’m not complaining, Tonali’s obviously a very good player, but I didn’t think he’d cost £100m. But whatever, we’ve tons of cash.’

‘Yeah, we’ve finished 17th twice in a row. And the best players would still leave Newcastle to come to us.. What does that tell you about the prestige and fame of the two clubs?’

‘What I don’t understand about Villa and Newcastle fans moaning is that we’re completely self sustainable. We’ve got into this position through players sales, huge sponsor deals and massive stadium revenues. We’re not like Chelsea and City using oil money and cheating.

Furthermore, Villa have themselves tried to cut corners to get where they are with massive wages to revenue ratio. They can only blame their owners for not maximising revenues. Levy did a lot wrong at Spurs, but his business mind helped with the revenue income.;

It has now been reported that a £100m transfer has been agreed between Newcastle United and Tottenham for Sandro Tonali.

Wednesday night bringing the report.

The Mail reporting it as ‘breaking news’ that: ‘Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement with Newcastle United to sign Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali.’

It had previously been claimed that one or two offers had been made by Tottenham.

Now it is claimed that they have reached a figure that United find acceptable.

The Mail stating: ‘A deal between the two clubs worth £92.5million is understood to be at the final stages, with add-ons centred around Champions League qualification taking the fee up to £100m.’

They say that their information is that Tottenham put in an initial bid of £75m.

Then when that was instantly rejected, came back with a second bid of £90m.

The Mail going on to say: ‘But Newcastle were thought to have been holding out for a package worth £100m – and now Spurs have agreed to up their offer to that sum.’

Interesting to read through these BBC Sport ‘neutrals’ comments, following on from an article they published on Tottenham reportedly having an opening offer of £80m for Sandro Tonali turned down by Newcastle United.

The BBC Sport readers comments from neutrals reacting to it, Newcastle United fans as well, plus clearly many Tottenham fans and the odd Mackem.

Here is a selection of responses from the ‘neutrals’ to the Sandro Tonali situation and the claimed Tottenham interest and bid piece on BBC Sport:

‘So SCR is working nicely. Spurs and Liverpool breaking the bank, whilst Newcastle and Villa look to be selling off their best players again. What a meritocracy.’

‘Newcastle don’t have to sell him. They will consider selling him if they get an offer for extremely good money, and can secure a replacement without Big 6 clubs jumping in and turning their head.

Call me sceptical but I think clubs are reluctant to commit so much money to a ban risk, and I don’t think Big 6 revenue monsters can stop themselves stealing Newcastle targets. My instinct is he stays.’

‘Very correct imo. Newcastle are far better placed to keep a player, as it will be a long time before Tottenham can match anything Newcastle could achieve.’

‘Same situation as last year, Newcastle have said what it will take to sell him: £100m (or maybe £120m) plus their having signed a replacement.

I suspect the main difference is Tonali is a professional who will honour his contract instead of throwing his toys out of the pram, feigning injury, ducking out of a club tour, running away to Spain and putting out childish “he said she said” statements.’

‘I’m sure Tonali can do a lot better than Spurs.

All Spurs have done is alert better teams to the race for him.’

‘He’s already doing 5 places better than Spurs.

‘So, what you’re saying is that other clubs weren’t aware of Tonali’s talent until Spurs put a bid in?’

‘Middle or lower middle makes no difference. Tottenham have more potential. Newcastle is just a feeder club to the mid table.’

‘Tonali won’t waste his best years at Newcastle, guaranteed.’

‘It’s so obvious that so many don’t understand Spurs’s finances. The one thing Levy did was leave the coffers full, he was averse to spending it! Plus we won the UEL and made a good fist of the UCL until the Tudor debacle. With the new spending rules, not being in Europe give more wriggle room too.

I think it also shows how ridiculous the market has become, prices and wages are, imo, obscene.’

”Spuds had their pants pulled down by Brighton and they’re about to have them pulled down again by Newcastle.

At least Spuds are spreading the wealth!’

‘You do understand that the PSR rules had to be signed off by the majority of the premier clubs at the time. If it was only the 6 clubs it would never of been ratified. Its a shame more fans don’t care enough about protecting their club and are willing to put the club they claim to support in jeopardy to spend way beyond their means.’

‘The clubs that have no hope of catching the Big 6 were always going to agree to it. They don’t like having 6 uncatchable monsters they have to contend with, but from their point of view it’s better than having 7, or 8, or 9.

And the 6 clubs who initiated the thing knew that fine well. The aspirational clubs (probably Newcastle, Villa and Forest) would always be in a minority.’

‘And this is what stinks in the kingdom of the Premier League. Spurs finished one place above relegation, have no European football yet have the resources to go in for £100m + players? Have they sold anyone worth that much to start with? Yet Newcastle can’t get a round of drinks in without worrying about PSR and FFP. How do these clubs pay the wages without penalty? Crazy.’

‘And £700m in debt. Yet still allowed to spend hundreds of millions more than the other 14 teams.

PSR totally ignores the possibility of their revenue taking a sudden dramatic drop and them ending up in real financial trouble.

According to the PL’s FFP rules it’s absolutely impossible that a club like Spurs could ever get relegated.’

‘PSR works for the so-called Big Six. Why the hell should Beyonce concerts and NFL games give you more to spend in the PL? It stinks, it’s corrupt, and until they punish clubs like Cheatski and 115FC properly – not clubs like Everton and Hull – then the putrid stench will never go away.’

‘You really don’t understand how PSR works. Spurs generate massive income so they can spend. Newcastle generate match day income and not much else. If Newcastle want to spend, generate income from sources other than football.’

‘Getting income from other sources should not be allowed.’

‘Absolutely right , totally corrupt !’

‘Tottenham are THE example of building up a club without oil or Russian money. The club is run as a sustainable business and it’s taken 20 years to get to where it is. This is why I don’t pity Newcastle or Villa as much because Spurs are the model showing how it can be done within FFP and PSR.’

‘What’s questionable is that Newcastle spent years as a mid-table or relegation-threatened club, only to be transformed overnight by one of the wealthiest ownership groups in world football. Money can buy players and success, but it can’t buy the history, tradition, or achievements that other clubs have spent decades building.’

‘Newcastle fans deluded enough to think they’ve a big club after a couple top 5 finishes and a league cup. Complaining that spurs can spend money, even though spurs only spend what they make. They’re not relying on a state fund to buy success.’

‘You understand PSR applies to Newcastle too, right..?

Having a state fund is pointless if a) 6 clubs with much much much higher revenues have decided to implement a revenue-based regulatory system; and b) every time you bid for a player within the PSR rules, one of those 6 clubs hijack the move and offer much higher wages.

But yeah, keep pushing that completely irrelevant talking point!’

‘(Sunderland fan) Tonali will go for 90m probably I think, he’s not a 100m player. Not unique enough.’

‘I don’t think Spurs planned to be bad last season either.

They had ambition last season as well – don’t get relegated – and it worked, just!

‘The Big 6 are removing Newcastle’s incentive to sell players to them by blocking their attempts to buy new players.

If we have to press on with the same squad, so be it.

Last season’s cup performances were fine and there were many, many league games that were tight and may well have gone the other way without Euro-fatigue or if our strikers had had a proper pre-season.’

‘(Sunderland fan) The most important players in the team will leave now and next summer, that is obvious now if Tonali wants out even.’

‘To be fair, I haven’t even heard that Tonali has said he “wants to leave” Newcastle.

All I’ve heard is reports that he is allegedly open to moving to spurs….anyone can make those comments up whether it’s actually been said or not!’

‘Well Tonali had clearly already spoken to Spurs and decided to go there or they wouldn’t have bidded.’

‘”Clearly?”

Newcastle bid all the time for players. Sometimes they’ve spoken to them in advance, sometimes they haven’t, sometimes the players have agreed terms and expressed a willingness to sign.

It means absolutely nothing.’

‘What’s wrong is trying to work within the financial restraints, imposed by the Premier League. They were under the guise of ensuring clubs were safe from reckless spending, but they’re more specifically designed to hamper clubs with rich owners (so no chance of going into administration) from spending freely. Big 6 don’t fancy a challenge’

‘Spurs have been well within FFP for years and could still spend a ton of money without breaching rules, hundreds of millions even. They are clearly going for it this summer and I think this is one of many that’s going to happen, especially when they start to sell on the deadwood like Romero etc’

‘Spurs are “clearly going for it”, what are Spurs clearly going for? Having less than three Managers in one season, or finishing next season in the heady heights of mid table obscurity? Help me out here.’

‘I’ve been reading some of the comments, and what I really don’t understand is why Newcastle fans hate Spurs so much. As a Spurs fan, I couldn’t give a monkeys about a club 300 miles up the road. And as for selling their best players to Spurs… they’ve been doing it for decades. Waddle, Gazza, Ginola, Les Ferdinand – and the list goes on.’

‘Oh and thanks for the cash from Sissoko too. By the way spurs have a current gross financial dept of approx £851 million.’

‘I can’t see anywhere that anyone has said they hate spurs. In fact spurs are probably the london team the majority of fans from Newcastle don’t mind. The bars in Newcastle were all shouting for spurs season last in your Europa League final. Poor comment.’

‘If Tonali is valued at more than £80m, Anderson at over £120m and an untested 19 year old Ivorian at over £120m then this is going to be a very painful window for everyone. It is getting ridiculous.’

‘Newcastle fans are basically angry that they can’t financially dope their way to success.

Top clubs can spend big money because they’ve sustained success in some manner for decades, Newcastle are not in that category and PSR is there so that an oil state (for example) doesn’t come in and destroy the league. City/Etihad are about to learn this the hard way.’

‘Given that Tonali is contracted to Newcastle until 2030, if Spurs want to buy him then they will need to dig deeper and pay the £100M asking price. This will be a good test if the Spurs Board have turned over a new leaf and will pursue a player whatever it takes. Sadly that was clearly not the case in previous seasons.’

Tottenham Hotspur have opened talks with Newcastle United over a deal for Sandro Tonali according to the usually very reliable David Ornstein of The Athletic.

Ohers in the media were claiming late Saturday that Spurs had seen an £80m bid turned down by Newcastle United.

Meanwhile, David Ornstein with this more restrained Saturday night report/update, claiming the opening of official talks rather than a concrete offer already made.

It is always a case of picking and choosing who you believe in these transfer stories and I think my feeling is that the man from The Athletic is probably closest to the truth.

I think what probably isn’t in doubt now is that if somebody meets Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali valuation then he could leave.

Whether that could be Tottenham remains to be seen.

I can’t help but think that Newcastle United are happy to engage in talks with Tottenham to then help draw out the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City, clubs that you could see Sandro Tonali potentially wanting to join, as opposed to Tottenham which makes absolutely no sense in terms of player ambition.

David Ornstein reports that Tottenham 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 make 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.’

Ornstein going on to say: ‘The Athletic reported on June 16 that Tottenham were in positive talks with Tonali’s camp and they had yet to engage with 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. 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.’

It has now been reported that Tottenham are in talks with representatives of Sandro Tonali ahead of a potential move from Newcastle United.

It is the usually very reliable David Ornstein of The Athletic with the story.

The man from The Athletic reporting: ‘Tottenham Hotspur are in positive talks with the camp of Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali over a potential summer move. There has been no contact so far with Newcastle but, if an agreement looks possible with the player, club-to-club contact can be expected to follow. ‘

I must admit to feeling simply bemused by even the suggestion there is a possibility that Sandro Tonali could end up playing for Tottenham.

Spurs have avoided relegation by just one place in both the 2024/25 and 2025/26 season and appear trapped in a relentless cycle of hiring and firing managers in rapid succession. Roberto de Zerbi is the fourth Tottenham manager in place since the 2024/25 season ended.

A suppose there is a chance that Tottenham could potentially meet wage expectations, though surely Sandro Tonali would have to become the best paid player at Spurs. As to satisfying Tonali’s ambitions on the pitch, I can’t imagine how Tottenham could convince him on that front.

David Ornstein also points out: ‘The transfer fee is considered a bigger challenge for Spurs than a deal with Tonali…Tottenham are prepared to push hard for a statement signing, which is being driven by head coach Roberto De Zerbi and is backed by the ownership. Tonali, 26, has also attracted interest from Arsenal and Manchester City but at this stage Spurs are the most advanced over a proposed deal.’

Ornstein’s work colleague Jay Harris, who covers Tottenham for The Athletic, also gives his view on a potential Sandro Tonali signing: ‘They have acted shrewdly [bringing in free transfers Robertson and Senesi] 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. 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 £65million 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.’

Harris adding: ‘Spurs are committed to overhauling their squad this summer but the awkward question remains of how they will fund all these moves. 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.’

Intriguing reading these comments from Spurs fans ahead of West Ham United facing Newcastle United.

A 5.30pm kick-off on Sunday at St James’ Park.

This Hammers match crucial as Spurs fans hope to see their own team avoid relegation.

Spurs fans commenting via their top supporters forum:

‘Newcastle vs West Ham is the key game, far more than us vs. Chelsea which even at the best of times is usually a loss for us.

If West Ham win against Newcastle, I think we are relegation favourites.’

‘I tend to agree.

I think they draw at best. If they were at home I think they would possibly win the game.

If Newcastle finish with 11 men I genuinely think they will win. My silent concern is they don’t.

The biggest issue is whether one of their attackers turn up on the day.

Woltemade, despite a strong start hasn’t kicked-on, Wissa has been disappointing. Osula looks decent and keen. Gordon is expected to leave, so Howe has been reluctant to play him.’

‘I’m so nervous about the Newcastle game. I think West Ham will win.

And if they do, we are properly fu..ed’

‘Okay, and understandable but you think a winless West Ham (last 2 games) will beat the Geordies, who haven’t lost their last 2.

You are fearing it or you see evidence to suggest it’s likely?

Look mate, we all know it’s going to be one of three outcomes.

I just think likelihood is not that West Ham win. Fearing it I understand.’

‘It doesn’t matter what West Ham do, they can win 100-0 against Newcastle and 100-0 against Leeds and still go down, 2 more wins for us and we are safe no matter what and I hope this is what RDZ is hammering into the players as I don’t want to see us get nervous if West ham win, its still in our own hands and West ham would love to be in our position!!!!’

‘I could cope better with going down if it wasn’t between us and them. Romford is just going to be parades and street parties if they survive. Add that lot winning the league and maybe CL, nightmare of a season.’

‘I’m planning on hibernating for at least a decade.’

‘Never liked football anyway.’

‘We will all need to deal with the next 9 days in whatever manner we can and await the outcome.

Nothing is done or dusted, and the likelihood is that this goes to the final day, although results could bring that forward to Tuesday.

The baton of pressure has passed to West Ham for Sunday.’

‘The big thing is Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton playing that is a very robust and talented midfield. They are all back now.’

‘I think the only thing we have at this stage, and when we are down to 2 games, and next to no wiggle room, is hope, but based on best options and motivation.

Newcastle are near to full strength, at home and it’s their last home game of the season, but also with little to play for. Plusses and minuses, but much like Liverpool for example. Not been great but would you want to be their last home opponent? I wouldn’t.

As Spurs fans we will see it in various ways, West Ham fans, across a spectrum will see it in negative/positive terms equally as much.’

‘Even if Spam lose to Newcashle I don’t have a lot of hope that we can gain another point.’

‘Had a Villa fan on a Spurs youtube video after we beat them, claiming they’re being held back by the “cabal 6″‘

‘He’s probably referring to the limitations on their spending power.

Many Newcastle fans I know (one side of my family is Geordie) are absolutely convinced there is a cabal involving the BIG 6 conspiring to prevent the likes of them and Villa becoming top 6 regulars and breaking up the monopoly.’

‘We’ve had 2 yrs out of the top 6. Chelsea are out this season. Villa need to do something about it. Build a new stadium so they can increase their revenue like a certain London club did.

Stop paying 85% of their revenue in wages. Saudis shouldn’t own a club, same for Abu Dhabi. Couldn’t do it in most countries.’

‘Yeah, my Newcastle mate says a lot hate Spurs and the Spammers because we pushed for the Associated Party Transaction rules and similar. It meant they couldn’t buy their way to success in the same way City and Chavs have.’

‘It’s going to down to the wire isn’t it? And we all know that usually ends for us.’

‘Hate that it probably will. I’m still hoping it won’t. That somehow, this weekend and next weeks games go our way.’

‘I just can’t see us beating either Chelsea or Everton so I’m hoping West Ham don’t get another win.’

‘West Ham v The Toon will clearly have a huge impact ,we need them to lose because if they do win I think we will drop ‘

‘Our Home record is what’s going to kill us.’

‘Quite Ironic that we end up with the best Stadium in Europe and its what could end up sending us down…..’