Tonali on De Zerbi and the Brescia connection
Sandro Tonali said his conversation with Roberto De Zerbi was ‘close to magic’ after joining his compatriot at Spurs.
We announced the arrival of the Italy international midfielder from Newcastle United, subject to a work permit, on Monday. He will wear number 16.
Born in Lodi, Italy, Sandro joined Brescia in 2012 – the hometown club of his new Head Coach, Roberto.
Making his professional debut in August, 2017, Sandro won back-to-back Player of the Season awards, playing a key role as Brescia were promoted to Serie A in 2018/19. Three more impressive campaigns followed before hid big switch to Milan in September, 2020.
Roberto was well aware of Sandro’s impact at Brescia. "I have followed him for a long time, as he came through the youth system at my hometown club, Brescia, and I'm so happy to be working with him now,” he told us.
“Given his qualities, there was a lot of interest in Sandro this summer. However, he was very clear in his desire to join Tottenham, and I know our fans will love what he brings to the team."
Sandro said: “Roberto is an unbelievable gaffer. I know him for a long time. He's from Brescia. I played 10 years in Brescia. Sometimes, we meet in Brescia when we have a day off or two days off, we come back, both in our city and I think this is fantastic.
“I spoke with him for the first time. We spoke like a friend, and we spoke like a player and gaffer already. This chat was close to magic, because it was like, ‘okay now I have to sign for you, for sure’.
“We spoke a lot really about the Tottenham, about the stadium, about the fans about the players, about our football. We can't wait to start the season.”