Roberto De Zerbi has admitted his plan to unite with Sandro Tonali at Tottenham Hotspur was made much earlier than many realise.
The Italy international has become the most expensive signing in Tottenham’s history and the first player for whom the club broke the £100m barrier.
Spurs have also shattered their wage ceiling to sign Tonali, who is reportedly on a £ 250k-per-week contract at the North London club.
It is an open secret that De Zerbi played a huge role in convincing the 26-year-old to come to N17, but it turns out that the plan was made long before the summer window opened.
Roberto De Zerbi reached out to Sandro Tonali even before Tottenham avoided relegation
The Tottenham boss has now revealed that he reached out to the Italy international through a mutual friend even before the Lilywhites had secured their place in the Premier League.
The 46-year-old admitted that he wasted no time in letting Tonali know of his desire to work with him as soon as he heard that the midfielder wanted to leave Newcastle.
De Zerbi told Football.London: “The story is very simple. I saw Sandro wanted to leave before the end of the season, maybe before our Chelsea game, and we have one friend in common; he’s the team manager of Brescia.
“I read one story about Sandro which said ‘Tonali is leaving Newcastle in the summer’, and I sent a message to my friend to say ‘hey, inform Sandro, if we stay up, I go to him’. After 10 minutes, my friend answered, ‘I said to Sandro, and he’s open’.
“I said now we have to win one game to stay up! I watched Newcastle’s game against West Ham, 90 minutes like this (indicates sweat pouring down his face), and Sandro played very well in the first half. I said [to myself] ‘if I stay up, I come to you, I come to you, I come to you’.”
De Zerbi spoke to Tonali the day after Spurs’ win over Everton
The Italian did eventually achieve his objective of keeping Tottenham in the top-flight on the final day of the season, as the Lilywhites overcame Everton 1-0.
De Zerbi revealed that he spoke to the former Newcastle man the very next day before meeting him at his residence two days later.
The Spurs head coach added: “When we won the last match with Everton, the day after the game at 4pm I sent a message to Sandro. ‘Sandro, I want to speak with you’. After 10 minutes, we spoke, and after two days, I went back to Italy, and we met in his home, because I didn’t want to invite him in my home, because I thought maybe he’s not comfortable in my home.
“I preferred to go to his home, to keep him in the right condition to say ‘yes, why not’. For me, nothing changed.”