After selling Alexander Isak to Liverpool last year, Newcastle look set to make a £100m+ sale for the second consecutive summer.
An agreement has reportedly been struck which will see Sandro Tonali join Tottenham for a whopping £92.75m plus £7.25m in add-ons. £100m in total for the Italian midfielder.
Tonali had been linked with Liverpool, and though he could have been an option as they look to bolster their midfield, there was never any chance of the Reds going so high for the 26-year-old.
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Nevertheless, Liverpool should be looking at this deal with frustration and even anger. Having watched them drag their feet all summer over Isak in 2025, Newcastle have shown that they can move quickly to sell a want-away player for a big fee to a Premier League rival.
Liverpool’s push to sign the Swede went on for another two months, and the delaying and public posturing from Newcastle ultimately led to the ruining of not only Isak’s season, but their own, and, arguably, Liverpool’s as well. Had British football’s most expensive transfer of all-time been wrapped up in early July, things could have been so different.
Liverpool should not do business with Newcastle again
It should be said that Liverpool are not exactly popular with Newcastle at the moment either.
The Reds jumped in to hijack their move for Victor Munoz in June, which was one of a number of similar scenarios in recent years.
But though those moves will rankle for Toon fans, it is the Isak saga which has really driven a wedge between the two clubs, both on a supporter level, and, perhaps even in the boardroom as well.
On the one hand, Newcastle have clearly learned their lesson from the Isak debacle, and letting Tonali go early in the summer will allow them to strengthen their squad with time being on their side. Maybe they have changed?
But Liverpool may also see it as a personal snub towards them. Had another club been in for Isak, would it really have taken such a damaging turn of events to get him out of Tyneside?
Either way, it might be a long time before we see the two clubs doing business again.
Isak joining Liverpool in July would have changed everything
Obviously, Tonali and Isak’s moves cannot be compared in some senses, given it was July 24th when it became clear that the now Liverpool striker wanted to leave Newcastle.
Making himself unavailable for the Magpies’ tour of Asia was seen as a line in the sand from Isak, and that was the first public acceptance that he did indeed want to leave.
However, there must have been conversations going on behind the scenes for the Sweden striker to make such a drastic decision. Liverpool were clearly already making it clear that they were ready to sign him, and this should have probably been the end point of the saga, rather than what really became the beginning.
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Isak was blatantly prepared to leave Newcastle all summer, and had they simply adhered to his wishes and begun conversations with Liverpool at the end of the season, a nasty divorce and a mess of a pre-season could have been avoided.
Newcastle fans will still be unlikely to give Tonali too much goodwill. He has pushed to leave after all, just like Isak. But at least he leaves them with money to spend and the chance for a clean slate. Neither were true for Liverpool’s No. 9, and all parties are still feeling the effects of that.
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