Tottenham Hotspur spent a jaw dropping 100 million pounds on Sandro Tonali, and while Spurs fans did not question Roberto De Zerbi for spending that kind of money on a player who has not been at his highest level in years - and perhaps not even since he left AC Milan in the first place - there were many around the Premier League who did not understand the signing. And even many Newcastle fans were surprised by the fee.
Tonali is a wonderful footballer when he is at his best, and anyone can see his raw talent and the theory of what he can bring to the table. And also from a Tottenham perspective, the problem was always the opposite - not spending enough rather than spending too much. So Spurs fans were more than OK with gambling 100 million pounds on Tonali, especially given his potential quality and the fact that the manager they trust, De Zerbi, was so sold on him.
Sandro Tonali is not delivering on his price
But when you cost 100 million pounds, you have to deliver, and while it is delving into the reactionary to even insinuate that Tonali is a transfer flop, especially when De Zerbi just admitted he is not 100 percent up to his fitness standard, it is fair for Tottenham Hotspur and its fans to expect immediate results from a record signing of 100 million pounds when the previous record was set that very window in Mateus Fernandes, who has been great.
Right now, instead of rewarding Roberto De Zerbi's faith in him, Sandro Tonali is proving his manager and a fellow Brescia native very wrong. Tonali has not been good at all defensively, he is not generating chances for his team at a high rate, his progressive passing has been non existent, his tactical awareness has been shockingly poor, his physicality has been a major disappointment, and he is getting overrun by other Premier League midfields as if he were not even there.
These are hugely concerning signs that De Zerbi cannot fix through tactics and coaching. The changes have to come from Tonali to improve immediately, because Tottenham are going to lose every game they play if one of their starting anchoring midfielders is doing this poorly in a scheme centered around that position. De Zerbi bought the farm on Tonali, and, so far, Tonali has been worth about the same price as a heaping pile of fresh manure.
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