Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi has offered a strong defence of Sandro Tonali following the Italian's difficult competitive debut for the club, insisting the £100million midfielder has all the qualities needed to thrive in the Premier League ahead of a reunion with former side Newcastle United this weekend.
Tonali's move to north London was completed for a club-record fee, making him the first player to arrive at Tottenham for a nine-figure sum. His arrival was widely seen as a statement signing, positioning him as a central figure in De Zerbi's project to restore Spurs to regular European qualification. However, his first taste of competitive action ended in a heavy defeat away to Brentford, a result that has been described as a wake-up call for both the player and the team.
Despite the setback, De Zerbi made clear he has no doubts about Tonali's ability or his price tag, describing him as one of the most complete midfielders in English football. "Sandro Tonali's value (£100m) is that value because he is one of the most important midfielders in the Premier League," the Italian coach said.
De Zerbi, who has known Tonali since his early days as a youth player at Brescia, admitted the midfielder has exceeded even his own high expectations since linking up in north London. "Sandro sincerely is much better than I thought before I worked with him," he said. "I already said many times, smart guy, smart player, very clean with the ball. Maybe can seem one player more of quantity and less quality. It's not true. He's a complete midfielder. He can play as a six, as an eight, he has the right intensity to play in the Premier League, and we are very happy for him."
The Spurs boss also used the opportunity to address the scale of Tonali's transfer fee, pointing to the wider inflation seen across the Premier League transfer market this summer. He noted that other deals, including Elliot Anderson's £113million move to Manchester City and the £86million-plus fee commanded by 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi despite having fewer than 100 senior appearances, put Tonali's fee into perspective.
"If you analyse the transfer market in Premier League, you can see players of 30 years paid around the price of Sandro," De Zerbi explained. "So what is the answer? I don't know, but I think the value of Tonali in this transfer market, in this country, in this league, now in 2026 is the price of one of the best midfielders in the Premier League."
De Zerbi went further, suggesting that debates over transfer fees should be viewed in the broader context of English football's spending power rather than being isolated to Tottenham's business. "The discussion is the transfer market price in Premier League are right or not? I think the answer is in Premier League it's a different transfer market. The value of the players in the Premier League are totally different than in the other markets in Europe," he said.
On the football side, the Spurs manager confirmed he views Tonali as a versatile presence capable of operating in multiple midfield roles within his 4-2-3-1 setup, whether as a deep-lying six or a more advanced eight. He also revealed that Tonali turned down interest from two other unnamed Premier League clubs to join Spurs, and praised the reaction of the club's supporters to the signing.
As for the reunion with Newcastle, where Tonali revealed he received significant interest before eventually departing, De Zerbi is adamant his squad, and Tonali in particular, are capable of putting the Brentford disappointment behind them. "We have the quality enough right now to win the game and to play much better because it's normal to play better than we did in Brentford," he said. Newcastle boss Matthias Jaissle has suggested there will be extra motivation for his own players in facing their former midfielder.
Based on reporting from standard-football.