There are many roles on a football pitch that cannot be judged by statistics. In a relatively deep central midfield position, Sandro Tonali occupies one of them.
So, it would be unfair to use basic numbers to suggest his most recent season with Newcastle United was not his best one. Those numbers are quite stark, though.
He did not score in the Premier League and contributed only two assists. He was booked four times. He was part of a Newcastle team that finished 12th and won only 14 of their 38 matches.
Tonali is a good player, no doubt about that. He cost in excess of £55million three years ago. And it understandable that Newcastle, and manager Eddie Howe, would want to keep hold of him.
They have shown great faith in him, having supported the player during the 10-month ban he received for breaking betting regulations. It is also understandable that they would turn down an opening bid from any suitor. That is the way negotiations work. No-one accepts a first offer.
But with their £80million valuation of the 26-year-old Italian, Spurs are being more than realistic. And if Newcastle hold out for – and get – £100million for Tonali, it will be proof that the Premier League transfer market is madder than ever.
In support of their nine-figure valuation, Newcastle will probably point to Elliot Anderson, the player they sold to Nottingham Forest for £35million in the summer of 2024 and who now looks certain to join Manchester City in a deal that is likely to be finalised at somewhere close to the £130million mark. Across two seasons with Forest, Anderson has six Premier League goals and ten assists.
View 3 ImagesElliot Anderson is expected to join Manchester City for a record-breaking fee(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
He is an integral part of the England team and is clearly an extremely good player. But he was also an integral part of a Forest team that finished 16th in the Premier League last season.
Clearly, there is a premium on central, combative midfielders. Mateus Fernandes is clearly going to leave West Ham after their relegation to the Championship, having only been at the club for a year following his £38million move from Southampton. Now, it seems, he is valued at around £80million.
Fernandes was decent enough in West Ham’s doomed campaign but how has he more than doubled in value? This is a player who has now been relegated with two clubs in two seasons.
The cost of players in the Premier League is getting silly. Jan Paul van Hecke had a very good game for the Netherlands in their 5-1 thrashing of Sweden at the World Cup. But he only had a year of his Brighton contract left to run and Spurs still paid in excess of £50 million for him.
View 3 ImagesMateus Fernandes has been part of two relegated teams in the last two seasons(Image: MB Media/Getty Images)
It is what the Germans used to call ‘stupid English money’. There does appear to be one outlier this summer.
It seems Manchester United will accept £40million from another Premier League club – apart from Liverpool or Manchester City – for Marcus Rashford. In the context of the current market, that is hard to fathom – almost as hard to fathom as Barcelona’s decision not to activate a £26million purchase clause at the end of the 28-year-old England attacker’s loan deal.
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But Rashford, for whatever reason, seems to be an exceptional case. Because if the prices being bandied around for Tonali, for Anderson and for Fernandes are paid, the summer window promises to bring a spending spree that is remarkable, even by Premier League standards.
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