Newcastle United are looking at Tottenham-linked Italian midfield duo to fill the void created by Sandro Tonali.
Tottenham Hotspur are moving at a brisk rate in the transfer window. In Mateus Fernandes, the North Londoners completed their fifth signing of the summer.
Spurs are set to smash their transfer record for the second time in a matter of days after agreeing a deal worth up to £100 million with Newcastle United for Sandro Tonali. The deal comprises an initial £92.5m fee plus a further £7.5m in add-ons related to European qualification. The Italian international is said to have agreed a six-year deal with Tottenham, which will see him enjoy a significant increase in his salary.
Before travelling back to the UK from Italy to complete his medical, Tonali credited Roberto De Zerbi for playing a key role in making a move to Spurs possible. With the 26-year-old off to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Newcastle United find themselves needing to fill his void in midfield. With their transfer kitty boosted by the potential sale of Tonali, it looks like the Magpies are planning to raid the Italian market to revamp their midfield unit.
Newcastle United eye move for Tottenham-linked Italian midfielders
According to a report from Tuttomercatoweb, Newcastle United are looking at Inter Milan’s Davide Frattesi or Fiorentina’s Nicolo Fagioli to replace Tonali.
David Frattesi is the primary target. The Italian is not part of Inter Milan’s plans and has already been heavily linked with a move to Tottenham for some time now. He has two years left on his contract and Inter Milan value the attacking midfielder at around €30m.
Nicolo Fagioli is an alternative option to Frattesi, and like the Inter Milan man, he has been subject of interest from Spurs. The 25-year-old scored two goals and supplied three assists in 33 appearances, helping Fiorentina avoid relegation from Serie A.
Newcastle are looking to bring Frattesi or Fagioli to address a key area of their squad. From Spurs’ perspective, our interest in the Italian duo has faded. This is purely because De Zerbi has managed to land his top midfield targets in the form of Fernandes and Tonali, allowing Newcastle to have a run at them now.
It remains to be seen who the Magpies manage to lure to St James’ Park, but neither of them moving would have any effect to Tottenham’s transfer business.