Tottenham have entered the race to sign Sandro Tonali but Newcastle may demand a fee in the region of £100 million, sources have told ESPN.
Sources say a number of clubs have been encouraged to believe a deal could be possible this summer with Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City also monitoring the situation.
Spurs are optimistic Tonali would be prepared to join them but the bigger issue is likely to be agreeing terms with Newcastle, who will seek a significant profit on the £61m they paid AC Milan for the midfielder in 2023.
Tonali signed a new contract in January and is tied to St James’ Park until 2029. There is an option to extend that agreement by a further year and so Newcastle are in a strong negotiating position.
ESPN has previously reported that Tottenham are expected to adopt an aggressive approach to the market this summer after narrowly avoiding relegation from the Premier League.
They have already signed Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson on free transfers, and have agreed a deal with Brighton for Netherlands centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke.
Signing Tonali — especially ahead of the calibre of clubs involved — would be the sort of marquee addition which would kickstart Roberto De Zerbi’s tenure as head coach.
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It is unclear whether Arsenal will follow up their interest. The Gunners are looking at strengthening their midfield with Roma midfielder Manu Koné emerging as a possible target among several others.
Manchester United are currently focused on trying to secure a deal with West Ham for Mateus Fernandes while City have had two offers for Elliot Anderson rejected by Nottingham Forest.
