Tottenham will sell players in the coming weeks after spending big at the start of the summer transfer window.
Spurs continued their summer spending spree by signing Sandro Tonali in a club record transfer fee from Newcastle.
An agreement between the two Premier League rivals for the midfielder’s signature was reached last week and the move was finally announced on Monday morning, with Spurs paying an initial £92.5m plus £7.5m in add-ons.
“I’m very happy to be here. When I arrived at the club today, I felt good. People are talking about four or five clubs – there was one,” Tonali told the club’s website.
“I spoke to the coach (Roberto De Zerbi) for almost two hours about the team, the fans, the stadium and our football. It was like magic because I knew immediately that I had to sign for Tottenham.
“I’ve played against Tottenham a few times and I always get a great atmosphere from the great fans. I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Tonali’s club-record signing follows Mateus Fernandes’ £85m deal announced on Thursday and Jan Paul van Hecke joining Brighton for £52m earlier this summer, taking Spurs’ spending to £237m.
Martin Dubravka, Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi have also signed as free agents, but Tonali has been at the top of De Zerbi’s wish-list and is completing the club’s stadium overhaul and the 26-year-old is seen as a statement addition.
De Zerbi, along with Tottenham officials, agreed to sell some key players this summer to finance their signings and rebalance the squad, and the most wanted man in N17 has now chosen his next club.
The Tottenham star is on trial at Preston North End
According to Alasdair Gold, Tottenham youngster Alfie Devine is set to undergo a trial to join Preston North End in the Championship on a permanent deal.
The 21-year-old has attracted interest from across England, but has opted for Deepdale after spending last season on loan at the (other) Lilywhites, where he scored eight goals in 45 league appearances.
Celtic were keen to take the midfielder to the Scottish Premiership, which is the only club still signed this summer.
The Scottish champions are facing increasing pressure from supporters’ groups and this will do nothing to dampen the tide, especially given reports that manager Martin O’Neill is personally backing the Spurs star.
At Tottenham, Devine played just twice in the first team, scoring once, so although his talent seems unlikely to hold a playing role in North London, especially with the arrival of new players and James Maddison returning from injury.
Tottenham are planning more business after Tonali
After falling back to 17th place in the Premier League, Tottenham’s strict financial model was thrown out the window this summer by the majority owners of the Lewis family.
Spurs have been boasting the lowest wages compared to their domestic rivals, with the figure at 45 per cent for the 2024-25 campaign.
However, with revenues often exceeding the £500million mark, partly due to the number of non-football events held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the north London club relaxed its tight salary cap and broke its transfer record twice this summer.
Tonali is not expected to be the last arrival for Spurs with a new focus on attacking reinforcements and there is interest in Bournemouth striker Junior Kroupi.
