Tottenham Pursue Tonali as Rebuild Begins
Tottenham are wasting no time pretending last season didn’t happen. A club that flirted with disaster on the final day is now behaving like one determined never to feel that cold breath again.
Having scraped to a 1-0 win over Everton to cling to their Premier League status and condemn West Ham to the Championship, Spurs have ripped into the summer window with rare aggression. Four signings are already through the door. Now they are closing in on the marquee name that would define this rebuild: Sandro Tonali.
From survival to statement
The table doesn’t lie. Tottenham finished just two points clear of the drop, 18th-placed West Ham tumbling instead. For a club that still sells itself on European nights and big-club aura, that was humiliation in slow motion.
The response has been sharp.
Martin Dubravka, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson have all arrived on free transfers from Burnley, Bournemouth and Liverpool, shrewd business that instantly thickens the spine of the squad. Brighton centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke has joined for £52m, a sizeable fee that underlines how seriously the club is taking its defensive surgery.
But the heart of the team still needed a surgeon’s hand. Tottenham want at least one new midfielder. At the top of that list sits Tonali.
Tonali gives green light to Spurs switch
The Newcastle United midfielder, once seen as a long-term pillar at St James’ Park, has now told the club he wants the move to north London this summer, according to TEAMtalk’s transfer insider Graeme Bailey.
The Italy international is ready to accept Tottenham’s proposal. The offer on the table would more than double his current salary at Newcastle, a powerful statement of intent from a club that not long ago looked paralysed by its own decline.
Newcastle, though, are not rolling over. They are still asking for £100m for the 24-year-old, a figure that reflects both his quality and their reluctance to lose him.
Even so, the momentum is running one way.
“Deal on”: Spurs push ahead in Tonali race
Fabrizio Romano, never far from the eye of a transfer storm, has been emphatic. On his YouTube channel, he has repeatedly framed the race for Tonali as a one-club pursuit.
“I stand by my news,” he said, stressing that last week’s exclusive was clear: Sandro Tonali – Tottenham, full stop. No Manchester City. No other contenders worth naming. Since he first linked Tonali with Spurs, Romano has refused to attach any other badge to the Italian’s future.
“Tottenham are working on the deal to sign Sandro Tonali, and that remains the case. Deal on,” he insisted.
The message is simple: Spurs have moved to the front and intend to stay there.
Six-year pact in place as Spurs grow “confident”
The pressure finally told in negotiations with the player. Italian journalist Nicolo Schira reported earlier that Tottenham were preparing a fresh bid, with Tonali already giving his availability for a contract running until 2032.
Now, according to Schira, that personal agreement is done. Tottenham and Tonali have reached what he describes as a “total agreement” on a six-year deal worth £72m, with Spurs increasingly “confident” of striking a deal with Newcastle.
Two other Premier League clubs are said to be watching from the window, but at this stage they are exactly that: onlookers. Tottenham have moved decisively, locked in terms with the player and planted their flag on the deal.
The fee with Newcastle remains the final hurdle. Yet with Tonali’s stance clear and Spurs pushing hard, the question no longer feels like if he leaves St James’ Park – but whether this becomes the signing that drags Tottenham away from the relegation scrap and back towards the company they believe they should keep.
