Sandro Tonali: A £100m Midfielder Exceeds Expectations

Roberto De Zerbi did not bother dressing it up. Asked for his early verdict on Tottenham’s new record signing, he went straight to the point.

“Sandro Tonali is better than I thought.”

For a club that has just smashed through the £300million barrier in summer spending, that line will land well in north London. Spurs are about to complete a £75m deal for Savinho from Manchester City, with a further £10m in potential add-ons, but it is Tonali who sits at the top of this window’s financial pyramid: £100m paid to Newcastle for a 26-year-old midfielder who did not score once in 32 Premier League games last season.

De Zerbi knows exactly what he has bought. And who.

The Tottenham head coach and Tonali share more than a dressing room now; they share a city. Brescia shaped them both. It is De Zerbi’s hometown and the club where Tonali grew up, spending nine years in the system from youth ranks to the first team. Their paths have crossed for years, long before Spurs’ money entered the picture.

That history coloured De Zerbi’s answer when he was asked on Friday what he had made of Tonali in their first weeks together.

“Sandro Tonali is better than I thought,” he repeated. “He is better than I thought before working with him as a player and as a guy.

“I know his family, his agents, and I know they all are good people.

“I’m very happy to work with him and I think he’s the right player in the right place. Especially because we want to put him inside of the project.

“He has the right qualities, the right personality, the right values, to stay in this place.”

The numbers from last season at Newcastle do not scream “£100m midfielder”. No goals in the league, a campaign that never fully caught fire. But Tottenham have paid for a different profile: a balanced, intelligent operator who can knit phases together, control tempo and anchor a side that wants to dominate the ball.

That is where De Zerbi comes in. The Italian coach has built his reputation on elevating midfielders, giving them structure and daring them to take responsibility. With Tonali, he has a player he trusts on and off the pitch, someone whose character he is prepared to vouch for publicly.

Spurs, who have spent more than any summer in their history, are betting that this relationship — Brescia to London, shared roots to shared ambition — turns a costly signing into the heartbeat of De Zerbi’s project.

Tonali has the fee, the scrutiny and the manager’s faith. Now he has to show the Premier League why his new boss already thinks he is better than expected.