Tottenham is about to drop nine figures on a midfielder who already served a gambling ban and just turned 26. That part is wild. But the part that should actually worry Newcastle is that Sandro Tonali wants to leave at all. And that Tottenham — the club that finished 17th in each of the last two seasons — is where he’s headed.
Newcastle is the world’s richest club by ownership. That fact hasn’t meant much lately. They’ve sold Anthony Gordon for $69 million. They sold Alexander Isak for $125 million to Liverpool. Elliot Anderson is about to move from Nottingham Forest to Manchester City for $116 million. And now Tonali, who came in as a Champions League semifinalist from AC Milan, is reportedly on his way to Spurs for around $130 million. The club is getting richer. The team is getting worse.
Chief executive David Hopkinson has talked about being in the conversation for the world’s top club by 2030. But the conversation right now is about a club that keeps selling its best players to rivals who aren’t even that good. Liverpool took Isak. Manchester City kept taking Newcastle’s targets. Chelsea grabbed two of their striker shortlist. United got two more. And now Spurs? That’s a downgrade in league standing — Newcastle finished five places and eight points above them last season. The allure of London and fellow Italian Roberto De Zerbi probably helps, but this isn’t a step up. It’s a step sideways at best.
They had to sell Anderson. They probably wish they’d sold Gordon instead.
The firesale of 2024 was about staying on the right side of Profitability and Sustainability Rules. Anderson and Yankuba Minteh went. Newcastle tried to keep the core together, which seemed noble. But with hindsight, selling Gordon then — or Joelinton — might have let them keep Anderson. Now Anderson’s about to become a $116 million player for City, and Newcastle is left wondering how they missed on his value.
Last summer’s transfer window looks worse by the month. Newcastle held out for the maximum on Isak, selling him on deadline day for $125 million. But they spent the whole check on Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, two overpriced panic buys. If they’d taken $110 million six weeks earlier, they could’ve planned properly. This season looked like a reaction to that. They’ve decided to sell wantaway players earlier. But the damage from last summer’s botched window is real.
The first team Eddie Howe built was almost all hits — Isak, Tonali, Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Nick Pope, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento. The second group? Wissa and Woltemade don’t work. Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey don’t either. That’s $200 million in signings that haven’t delivered. Compared to the Carabao Cup-winning side, a possible lineup after Tonali leaves looks far weaker.
Newcastle is now buying younger. They’re chasing 20-year-olds like winger Bazoumana Toure and goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen. That’s a sign they’re thinking about resale value, about being a trading club. But it’s hard to sell that as a plan when your captain Bruno Guimaraes is attracting interest from Arsenal and your best midfielder is about to sign for a team that just avoided relegation twice in a row. Newcastle looked like a club on the rise in 2023. Right now, they look like a club that’s selling the rise to pay for the fall.
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