Two Man United legends will be left jealous after seeing Tottenham Hotspur shatter their transfer record for the second time in 24 hours to land Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.
Spurs beat Man United to the signing of Mateus Fernandes on Tuesday, with the Lilywhites paying a club-record £85m to land the Portuguese star from West Ham.
According to various reports, Fernandes had informed United that he was keen on joining Tottenham, having been won over by Roberto De Zerbi’s vision.
Just 24 hours later, the Lilywhites broke their transfer record again, with Spurs agreeing to pay £100m including add-ons for Tonali, who has become the most expensive Italian player in history.
Tottenham have signed one of Jaap Stam’s dream Man United targets
While Fernandes was the midfielder that United held extensive talks with, it is Tottenham’s other midfield signing that Jaap Stam wanted to see at Old Trafford
The former United centre-back named Tonali and Brighton’s Carlos Baleba as the two players that could solve the Red Devils’ issues in the middle of the park.
Stam told ComeOn last week: “I like Carlos Baleba from Brighton. He still stands out to me. I also really like Sandro Tonali from Newcastle for that role. These two stand out for me as players I’d like at Manchester United.
“It’s not easy to bring in these players because, nowadays, the transfer fees are very high. But if you want to be successful, you need to be very good in your recruitment, looking at your system and who you need to bring in.”
Paul Scholes believes Spurs have signed the best midfielder in the Premier League
Paul Scholes had also identified the Italy international as the player he admires, expressing disappointment that United were not in for him.
Speaking earlier this week, Scholes told Sky Sports (as relayed by The Metro): “The centre of the pitch is a big problem for me. You don’t feel like something is happening either, there’s nothing, there are no rumours,’
‘I’ve said it, I said it on the podcast six months ago, I love Tonali from Newcastle. I looks like a few clubs are in for him, including Tottenham.
“It doesn’t sound like we are in for him but I think that would be… he knows the Premier League, he’s been with Newcastle for two or three years, obviously he had a year where he couldn’t play, but I think he’s a top-class midfield player.”
Earlier this year, Scholes named Tonali as the best midfielder across the Premier League at the moment. Watch what the 51-year-old said about the former AC Milan star on The Overlap:
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