Arsenal warned over splurging £100m on Man Utd and Tottenham transfer target

Arsenal have been credited with a strong interest in Newcastle star Sandro Tonali (Picture: Getty)

Ex-England striker Darren Bent has told Arsenal to avoid spending £100million on Sandro Tonali and focus their efforts on strengthening other areas of the squad.

Tonali finds himself at the centre of a Premier League tug-of-war this summer, with English champions Arsenal far from alone in exploring a possible deal for the Newcastle central midfielder.

Manchester United, Manchester City and Serie A giants Juventus are all believed to be monitoring the situation – and Newcastle are growing increasingly resigned to losing the 26-year-old.

However, reports emanating out of Tonali’s native Italy on Monday claimed Tottenham had ‘forcefully’ entered the fray and Roberto De Zerbi is said to be playing a central role in Spurs’ pursuit.

Crucially, Tonali is understood to be ‘open’ to the prospect of a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, despite the club narrowly avoiding the drop last season.

Those interested parties will be aware that Tonali’s services will not come cheap, though, with the Magpies reportedly demanding an eye-watering fee of £100m for their prized possession.

It comes six months after Arsenal held ‘direct talks’ to land Tonali as cover for Mikel Merino, who was sidelined at the time with a serious broken foot.

Newcastle have slapped a £100m price tag on the Italy midfielder (Picture: Getty) Tonali is reportedly ‘open’ to the prospect of joining Spurs (Picture: Getty)

‘Listen, Arsenal aren’t paying £100m for Tonali,’ former Tottenham forward Bent, a lifelong fan of bitter rivals Arsenal, said on talkSPORT when addressing the latest rumours surrounding the sought-after Italy international.

‘He’s a very good player but that’s a position Arsenal don’t need to worry about.

‘Yes, I’d love to take him at Arsenal, 100 per cent, but not for £100m.

‘He’d be brilliant for Manchester United but £100m is a lot of money.’

Tonali has three years remaining on his current deal at St James’ Park (Picture: Getty)

While Bent feels Tonali has the quality to bring another dimension to Arsenal’s midfield options, he hopes the Gunners spend their transfer kitty elsewhere over the coming weeks and months.

‘For Newcastle probably, yeah, I get that [£100m price tag],’ he added.

‘He’s a good player, a very good player, and, again, I’d love him at Arsenal. But I just don’t want Arsenal paying £100m.’

Asked what he believes Tonali is really worth, Bent replied: ‘£80m or £85m, I think that would be reasonable.’

The Gunners should strengthen elsewhere before splurging £100m on Tonali, says Bent (Picture: Getty)

Turning his attentions to this week’s rumours surrounding Tonali, Bent believes Tottenham’s hopes of a deal could fall squarely on the shoulders of their new manager De Zerbi.

Asked if Spurs represented a step up on Newcastle, he responded: ‘The last couple of seasons would suggest no.

‘What you’re going to have to sell to Tonali when it comes to this type of conversation is the project.

‘De Zerbi will say to him, “I get it, we’ve had a couple of down years… I know we won the Europa League, but think about what we’re doing now – we’re trying to get Savinho in, we’re trying to Jan Paul van Hecke in, Andy Robertson is already there!”.

‘He [De Zerbi] be saying, “We’re starting to rebuild and you [Tonali] could be that crown jewell right in the middle”, so yeah, if they could sell that project to him then maybe they get it over the line.’

Tonali put pen to paper on a new contract with Newcastle back in January, tying him to St James’ Park until 2029.

But in an interview with Italian outlet Calcio e Finanza just two months later, Tonali’s agent Giuseppe Riso was unable to provide any assurances over his client’s future in the north east.

Riso also suggested that he and Tonali’s inner circle had always viewed Newcastle as something of a stepping stone to a bigger club.

‘The deal came about because a club like Newcastle with unlimited financial resources had decided to invest in Sandro,’ he said.

‘We considered the idea of having the player play in a higher-level league.’

On a possible departure from Tyneside for a club such as Arsenal or Manchester City, Riso added: ‘Exactly, that was the goal from the moment he went to England – to try to make him a star player.

‘I think he’s the Italian footballer with one of the highest values in the world.’

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