There has been a narrative presented by the national media that Sandro Tonali has been a disappointing transfer or even a bust from a Tottenham Hotspur perspective, and that sentiment is not at all shared by the Spurs faithful. But even then, there is an honest understanding that Tonali may never be able to match a 100 million pound price tag, or, at least, that the price tag is what is creating this unfair image to hang over his head of who he should be and where he should be at.
The thing is, as important as No. 6's are in the modern game, they don't always get the credit unless if they are on a team that is winning silverware, such as Declan Rice at Arsenal or Rodri at Manchester City and for the Spanish national team (and now at Barcelona). Because for just about everyone else, it is often hard for them to get the credit, or there is a fine line between praise and criticism, as Real Madrid's own actual 80 million euro transfer bust Aurelien Tchouameni has found out over the years at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Sandro Tonali is starting better than Chelsea's blockbuster midfielders did
But an interesting example of how expectations for Tonali deserve to be reset can be seen by looking at one of Tottenham's biggest rivals, Chelsea. They spent even more on their midfield signings in Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez a couple of years ago, and while those two were written off as busts and actually started their careers at Stamford Bridge in even worse shape than Sandro Tonali has, nobody would criticize those transfers now.
Because Chelsea ended up selling Enzo, who almost won his second World Cup with Argentina, for more money to Manchester City than what they paid to Benfica. Meanwhile, Caicedo has been an even bigger success, bouncing back to exceed what he was doing at Brighton in even tougher circumstances under the pressure of being the main anchor at Chelsea, with even Blues legend Claude Makelele and other club greats praising him effusively. And now Caicedo is the best pure defensive midfielder in the game in terms of breaking up play.
Tottenham Hotspur don't have to listen to anyone writing off Tonali right now, because all they have to do is look at the fact that the Italian internatioanl is already playing good football and has shown big improvements from his start to the season against the likes of Brentford and former employers Newcastle. With his decisive assist against Manchester United and great defensive performances before the international break, Tonali is actually playing well, and since Caicedo and Enzo started off worse at higher prices but turned out better, Tonali is truly on the right track, in spite of the national media's hand wringing over the transfer fee.
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