Sandro Tonali signed for Tottenham on 6 July 2026.
Spurs agreeing to meet the £100m valuation Newcastle United were happy to sell the midfielder for.
Eyebrows were raised at the choice of new club.
Sandro Tonali moving to Tottenham who had escaped relegation in May this year by a whisker on the final day of the season.
A second season in a row that the North London club had finished only one place above the drop zone.
Sandro Tonai has now admitted weeks after signing, that he didn’t want to join Tottenham.
With Newcastle United happy to sell him, Sandro Tonali revealing that he and his wife were desperate to move back to Italy.
However, their hopes dashed as no Serie A club was willing or able to pay the transfer fee and huge wages that Sandro Tonali was demanding.
Sandro Tonali quoted by The Standard: “We had decided to come back to Italy [and join a Serie A club] but it was impossible for the money…”
The former Newcastle United star then left with little option but to reluctantly sign for Tottenham, rather than he and his wife getting their wish to return to Italy.
That blow softened by becoming top earner at Spurs and reported to have more than doubled his Newcastle United wages.
Sandro Tonali claiming there was two clubs that he had spoken to but refusing to name the other one: “I spoke with two teams. I understood after 10, 15 minutes that Tottenham would be my next team.”