Becoming Tottenham's first £100million signing holds no fear for Sandro Tonali and the Italian has brushed off early criticism to show exactly why Roberto De Zerbi courted him so keenly.
The 26-year-old is not a headline maker for anyone looking for immediate and obvious proof as to why a club would splash out £92.5million with another £7.5million in add-ons for him. Tonali is unlikely to be the man nodding home the winning goal and his last-gasp assist for Dominic Solanke at Old Trafford at the weekend was rare for a man who is often the conductor rather than the eye-catching violin soloist.
That's evident in person as well. When you meet the Italian, he's laid back and speaks at length in excellent English but he's certainly no extrovert. The only time you'll find Tonali in a TikTok video is when his content creator wife Giulia literally pulls him reluctantly into one of hers. He'll do that because he's a family man and that's why he was willing to move back home to Italy in the summer just gone after three years in Newcastle.
The issue though for the Tonali family was that in Serie A few clubs can afford such a fee right now and that's when De Zerbi stepped in, using his and the player's mutual love for the northern Italian city of Brescia, where the Spurs boss was born and Tonali played for almost a decade at a club that was liquidated this year.
De Zerbi had courted Tonali for a long time, trying to sign him as the head coach at Sassuolo, Marseille and Brighton, and the pair met in Brescia this summer. The 47-year-old knew that Manchester City wanted the midfielder as well but the Tottenham boss detailed his extensive plans for him and how he wanted to develop him into a leader.
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There was also the fact that Spurs has become a Little Italy of sorts with the contingent of Tonali's compatriots in the coaching staff, left-back Destiny Udogie and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who has since joined Juventus on loan.
De Zerbi met Tonali at his home and the midfielder immediately told Giulia afterwards that "'probably it will be one of my best decisions of my career".
The huge deal was done, CEO Vinai Venkatesham video-calling De Zerbi with a huge grin to announce the news, but Tonali's pre-season was dogged by a little issue that kept giving him pain and it meant the version of the Italy international that began the season was not what people were expecting for the money.
A particularly disappointing performance against his former employers Newcastle in August, amid boos from the Geordie fans, only ensured the knives came out among the media, pundits and some of his new supporters. Had he signed for City then the former Milan man would have simply become one of many expensive signings but at Tottenham he was something that had never come before.
When football.london had asked Tonali how it felt to join the exclusive club of £100million footballers in the summer he said: "I don’t know! If I was another player, sometimes it’s tough, sometimes the pressure is different, but you have to understand that this is football. The price is different now to 10 years ago.
"I know I have a lot of pressure but I’m a football player, I know my responsibilities, I know this team, I know the people here. I have to play like I’m a normal player, a normal Tottenham player, with passion, putting my energy in everyday. If you put this into the pitch every day, it’s different, it’s not £1million, £10million, or £100million. You just have to be a passionate player for this gaffer."
Tonali put everything on to the pitch but he only had so much to give as he struggled physically and De Zerbi would constantly remind people that the man he had chased for years was nowhere near the condition he needed to be in to showcase his true ability.
This was the midfielder who former Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said he "fell in love" with after watching him run a game for AC Milan. "He is an outstanding talent, he can do a little bit of everything," said the 48-year-old back then.
Day by day Tonali has worked on his physical condition, using a key week in particular when he worked with the sports science staff on his fitness while others played in the Carabao Cup against Charlton. A busy international break with Italy, including three starts and one 20-minute showing from the bench within a fortnight or so has topped up his tank and benefitted Spurs.
That led to a barnstorming display at Old Trafford as he covered every blade of grass and was still sharp enough in the 92nd minute to pick out Solanke perfectly with a curling cross for that late leveller.
No Spurs player beyond the centre-backs touched the ball more times than Tonali that day with an 85 per cent pass accuracy and he played 12 line-breaking passes, 11 of them into the final third, while also making nine defensive contributions, recovering the ball six times from United players.
Something you might not realise about the Italian is that he's fast. He reached a top speed of 34.2kmh during the game in Manchester, faster than any starting player from either side and only Solanke covered more distance than his 11.8km on the day.
Tonali is starting to find his groove for Tottenham and the key for De Zerbi is deciding on the right partner for him. The now-suspended Rodrigo Bentancur will work for certain games but is too defensive to be the perfect long-term sidekick for games Spurs need to create chances galore in.
Twenty-year-old Lucas Bergvall is a work in progress but has shown signs of gelling with Tonali, while Archie Gray is yet to get the chance to play in the centre of the park as he is required at right-back.
£85million summer arrival Mateus Fernandes has seemingly not fully earned De Zerbi's trust to start regularly despite the Spurs boss declaring that he might end up becoming the best player at the club.
Both 22-year-old Fernandes, who has just become a father for the first time this week, and Tonali were not quite in alignment on who would be the six and eight out of the two of them when asked by football.london during the summer, but it feels like a partnership that could work as both have wide skill-sets.
It is Tonali though who can become Tottenham's conductor. The club has not had one since Mousa Dembele pirouetted his way through their midfield under Mauricio Pochettino.
Tonali is a different kind of player to the Belgian, but he has the ability to get Spurs performing De Zerbi's symphony in the way it is meant to be heard. That's the only way to drown out the criticism around the £100million man from Italy.
