Sandro Tonali agrees Tottenham move in club-record deal

Newcastle have agreed to sell the Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali to Tottenham in an initial £92.5m deal that could rise to £100m should the north London side achieve serial Champions League qualifications.

Providing the transfer’s formalities proceed as planned it will represent a club record for Tottenham, who on Tuesday agreed to pay £85m for the West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes.

The Spurs head coach, Roberto De Zerbi, is believed to have told Tonali he intends rebuilding his side around him and Tonali is said to be enthused by both his fellow Italian’s vision for Tottenham and the chance to live in London.

Tonali, who was coveted by Manchester City and Arsenal, has agreed terms with Spurs and is understood to have secured a significant wage rise to at least £275,000 a week across a six year contract.

The 26-year-old has been at Newcastle since his £55m arrival from Milan in the summer of 2023 but was sidelined after receiving a 10 month suspension for breaching betting rules.

After returning to action in August 2024 Tonali – who can operate as either a No 6 or a No 8 – established himself as one of Eddie Howe’s key players and helped Newcastle lift the Carabao Cup in 2025 before securing Champions League qualification.

Although Howe’s team reached the knockout out stages of Europe’s showpiece domestic competition this spring, they finished a disappointing 12th in the Premier League with Tonali’s form dipping as it became clear he was starting to eye a future elsewhere.

Given that Newcastle sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona in May and lost Alexander Isak to Liverpool last summer, the team built by Howe after his arrival in November 2021 in the aftermath of the club’s Saudi Arabian takeover is breaking up.

St James’ Park regulars are concerned by a lack of signings at a juncture when Brazil’s Bruno Guimarães, Tonali’s erstwhile midfield partner, is the subject of interest from Arsenal. But with Newcastle’s commercial revenues low by “top six” standards, they needed to sell before buying to comply with European and domestic spending rules.

Guimarães and his entourage have done nothing to discourage talk of a move and it is believed Newcastle received a negative response when they made an initial attempt to sign Tottenham’s former Leeds midfielder Archie Gray this week.

While Newcastle will attempt to persuade Guimarães to stay and may offer the 28-year-old an improved contract, the cash boost provided by the sales of Gordon and Tonali should enable Howe to strengthen his squad while remaining within the spending rules.

Newcastle are likely to accelerate a long-running attempt to acquire the 20-year-old Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi from Freiburg as Tonali’s potential replacement and are seeking a winger to fill the space vacated by Gordon. Hoffenheim’s 20-year-old Ivory Coast international Bazoumana Touré is believed to rank high on Howe’s shortlist. Newcastle’s manager is also expected to pursue Manchester City’s England goalkeeper James Trafford once the World Cup is over.

De Zerbi has swiftly set about bolstering a Spurs side that finished 17th last season. In addition to the technical assurance and athleticism provided by Tonali and Fernandes, he has acquired Andy Robertson and Marco Senesi on free transfers from Liverpool and Bournemouth and Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton for £52m.

On Wednesday Spurs agreed to sell the centre-back Luka Vuskovic to Brighton in a £50m deal. Vuskovic, part of the Croatia squad at the World Cup, was bought by Spurs for £10m from Hajduk Split last summer but has never played for the club, after being loaned to Hamburg last season.

Brighton have agreed to pay £46m plus £4m in what are regarded as easily achievable add-ons. Spurs have matching rights if Brighton agree a deal to sell Vuskovic and a 20% sell-on clause if he moves elsewhere. The 19-year-old is highly regarded and became Croatia’s youngest World Cup player when he started against England.