Pundit glad he's retired after Tottenham's 'madness' Tonali signing

13 Oct 2026 17:01 BST 2 min read

Sandro Tonali, Tottenham, 2026/27 — © IMAGO

Tom Weber | Writer

Make us your Google favourite

Tottenham's €108 million signing of Sandro Tonali this summer was "madness," according to former Italy international Antonio Cassano.

Article continues under the video

Like many top Premier League sides, Spurs revamped their engine room in the recent transfer window, bringing in Tonali and Mateus Fernandes. In doing so, they contributed to the veritable price explosion that was brought about by high demand and a dearth of elite midfield options.

Man City alone shelled out €375m on new players for their centre of the park, while rivals Man Utd went down a different route and pounced on market opportunities. However, the struggling Red Devils have already come to regret this approach.

Compared

€42.4M	ETV	€93M
€38.1M - €46.6M	ETV Range	€83.7M - €102.3M
22 years old (10 Jul, 2004)	Age	26 years old (08 May, 2000)
Portugal	Nationality	Italy

Tottenham, for their part, emulated Man City and paid top dollar for their recruits. They beat Man Utd to the signing of Fernandes by offering West Ham a whopping €99m, and then they bettered that a few days later by parting with €108m to prise Tonali away from Newcastle.

Spurs' free-spending strategy has yet to pay off. Although performances are improving, they are still winless in the Premier League after six games. Fernandes hasn't really found his place in the team yet, while Tonali is growing into his role and impressed at the weekend.

Cassano: Tonali signing was "madness"

Despite the Italy international's obvious talent, Newcastle were quite happy to receive €108m for him. It was a fee more dictated by the inflated market rather than his actual quality.

Tonali is a fine all-rounder but perhaps hampered by a lack of specialisation. He is good at many things, but arguably not great at any of them, which may explain why he wasn't a first-choice option for truly elite sides like Arsenal or Man City.

When the 26-year-old completed his move, he became the most expensive Italian player of all time. To former Azzurri striker Antonio Cassano, this is baffling. He can't understand what clubs like Newcastle and Spurs see in Tonali.

Speaking on Viva el Futbol, the outspoken pundit - or perhaps professional ragebaiter is a more apt description - branded Tonali's move to Tottenham "madness" and claimed that he's glad to no longer be a player in a world where these transfers are the norm.

When asked about Italy's midfield options, Cassano began by slamming Inter star Nicolo Barella before moving on to the Spurs man. "Behind Barella, there are people worse than him," the ex-Real Madrid ace said.

"Also, in my opinion, he's both poor and overrated. I've been saying this for years, and you know it. And wait: €110m for Tonali? €110m! Madness, he's really poor too.

"All coaches can have ideas, but Tonali at €75m for Newcastle and €110m for Tottenham - it means it's right that I'm out of football."