It was probably too late for a social media scroll, but this time, it was worth sacrificing my circadian rhythm.
In truth, I haven't given Tottenham Hotspur too much thought over the past week. This football club has already tortured me for far too long in 2026, so I've allowed World Cup fever to envelop me. As a result, my social media timelines are instead laden with far too many opinions of the so-far-excellent tournament.
But there was no escaping the Fabrizio Romano bomba on Monday night and the subsequent fallout. Sandro Tonali, eh? None of us saw that coming.
The club have so far acted positively and proactively, but haven't yet appeased the demanding Roberto De Zerbi. We've added two defenders on free transfers and whom we were linked with before the Italian saved our souls. Another target, Savinho, was of interest last summer.
De Zerbi's fingerprints are only starting to appear. First with Jan Paul van Hecke, now with Tonali. The Tottenham boss has earmarked his compatriot as the saviour of his midfield.
Tonali deal would be serious statement from De Zerbi's Tottenham
Initially, few gave Spurs a chance. Back-to-back 17th-place finishes and all that. Why on earth would Tonali fancy a piece of us? Well, Newcastle are embarking on a reset this summer in the absence of European football, and Tonali's former admirers, namely Manchester City and Arsenal, are going down different routes.
City want Elliot Anderson, and the Gunners are unlikely to spend so much on a position that isn't a priority.
Fabrizio has added on Tuesday that Tonali is open to the move, with De Zerbi desperate to strike a deal. This is a transfer engineered by the manager, who was born an hour's drive from Lodi, where the midfielder grew up in Lombardy.
Now, I know Tonali isn't the pass-happy profile we all crave, and spending so much on a player who supposedly doesn't fix our most glaring midfield issue may be foolish. I somewhat understand the consternation, but I don't think we can be turning our noses up of a player of Tonali's calibre because of his underwhelming 'progressive passes per 90'.
The Italian perhaps isn't the ideal build-up orchestrator, and is more similar in profile to midfielders we already have. Why oh why did we sign Conor Gallagher?! However, just because he hasn't evolved into the Andrea Pirlo-like metronome many thought he would when developing at Brescia doesn't mean he wouldn't be pretty special under De Zerbi.
Tonali is such a powerful midfielder who's a force without the ball. There's a lack of subtlety and craft with it, but the Italian is still impressive over long distances and is far better in possession than many are giving him credit for. I've seen this bloke control and dictate Champions League knockout stage fixtures at AC Milan, I think he'll be okay performing for a manager who's complex tactical instructions relentlessly offer simple solutions in the middle of the park.
We no longer have Thomas Frank at the helm, folks. We've got a manager capable of masking imperfections and maximising whatever he's got to work with.
It's a mammoth price, but Tonali is an excellent midfielder who I'm biting your hand off for. This would be a statement of intent from De Zerbi's Spurs.
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