Sandro Tonali: Roberto De Zerbi's High Praise for Tottenham's Record Signing

Roberto De Zerbi has wasted no time delivering his verdict on Tottenham’s new record signing. It was short, sharp and telling.

“Sandro Tonali is better than I thought.”

For a coach who chooses his words carefully, that line cut through the noise of a frantic Spurs summer. A window that will smash through the £300million barrier once the club complete a £75m deal for Savinho from Manchester City, with a further £10m tied up in add-ons. Big money everywhere you look. But one move towers over the rest.

The £100m gamble on Tonali.

Spurs ripped up their own transfer record to prise the 26-year-old midfielder from Newcastle, backing his reputation as one of Europe’s most complete operators in the middle of the pitch despite a Premier League campaign that brought no goals in 32 games last season. The numbers did not dazzle. The player did.

De Zerbi has known that player for years. Their connection runs through Brescia, the city that shaped them both. It is De Zerbi’s hometown and the club where Tonali spent nine formative years, rising from academy hopeful to senior mainstay. That shared background has forged a bond that goes beyond a standard manager–signing relationship.

On Friday, asked what had stood out in the first few weeks of working with the Italy international, De Zerbi did not hide his enthusiasm.

“Sandro Tonali is better than I thought,” he said again, doubling down. “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.”

That word – “project” – matters at Tottenham. This is not a quick fix, not a marquee name dropped in to sell shirts and fill highlight reels. De Zerbi wants Tonali at the heart of what Spurs are building, not orbiting around it. A midfielder trusted for his balance, temperament and tactical intelligence more than headline stats.

The goal drought at Newcastle will follow him into north London until he answers it on the pitch. Yet Spurs have paid for the broader package: the press resistance, the range of passing, the ability to control a game’s rhythm, and a mentality De Zerbi clearly trusts.

Right player. Right place. Now he has to prove he’s worth that record-breaking price in the one arena that really counts.