Tottenham Sign Tonali in £100m Deal After Arsenal Decline
Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a £100million deal to sign Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United, winning a high‑stakes midfield race that Arsenal chose to step away from.
The 26-year-old Italy international is set to become the second player to break Spurs’ transfer record in the same window, with Matheus Fernandes due to arrive from West Ham United for £85m. Two of the most coveted midfielders on the Premier League market are now heading to north London – and both to the white half.
Arsenal say no as Spurs go all in
This could easily have been a very different story.
According to ChronicleLive, Tonali’s agent, Giuseppe Riso, approached Arsenal and offered them the chance to bring the midfielder to Emirates Stadium. The door was open.
Arsenal did not walk through it.
The Gunners are reported to have turned the opportunity down, judging Tonali’s wage demands to be excessive. He is expected to earn around £275,000 per week at Tottenham on a six-year deal – a salary that would place him among the Premier League’s top earners. On top of that, Riso is said to have requested a 10% agent fee.
For Arsenal, the numbers were too steep. For Spurs, they were the cost of transformation.
Spurs push the boat out
The pressure finally told in negotiations with Newcastle.
football.london understands that Tottenham’s improved offer – rising from an initial £80m by roughly £20m – proved decisive. The structure is set at £92.5m up front, with a further £7.5m tied to Champions League qualification.
It is a huge outlay, even in an era of inflated fees. Yet for Spurs, it signals intent: a complete overhaul of a midfield that has lacked authority and depth at the very top level. With Tonali and Fernandes arriving, Ange Postecoglou’s engine room will look unrecognisable next season.
Tonali’s camp never hid their ambition. Riso, speaking in March, laid out the plan behind his client’s move to England.
“Exactly, that was the goal from the moment he went to England – to try to make him a star player,” he said. “I think he's the Italian footballer with one of the highest values in the world.
“The deal came about because a club like Newcastle, with unlimited financial resources, had decided to invest in Sandro. We considered the idea of having the player play in a higher-level league.”
Now that “higher-level league” challenge will continue in London, not on Tyneside.
Newcastle cash in, Arsenal look elsewhere
For Newcastle, the Tonali deal follows the £80m sale of Anthony Gordon earlier in the summer. That is close to £180m raised from two players, a significant injection as they navigate financial constraints and attempt to reshape the squad on their own terms.
Chief executive David Hopkinson hinted at this stance three months ago, referencing the club’s approach after the Alexander Isak transfer saga.
“We think through what players might or might not want to do this summer,” he said. “But if an [Alexander] Isak-like scenario presents itself again, any player under contract is going to leave on our terms. And we're going to maximise the opportunity that might represent for the club.”
Tonali’s sale fits that template perfectly: a big fee, a controlled exit, and money to reinvest.
Arsenal, meanwhile, continue to circle another Newcastle star. Their interest in Bruno Guimaraes is long-standing, stretching back to his days at Atletico Paranaense in Brazil. With Newcastle already banking major sums for Gordon and Tonali, prising away their captain now looks even more complicated, both financially and politically.
So Tottenham get their man. Arsenal walk away from the wage bill and keep chasing a different prize.
When the new season starts, north London will find out which gamble was worth the risk.
