The Arsenal Swap That Sent Tonali to Tottenham

Tottenham signed Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United for an initial £92.5 million on 6 July, after Arsenal refused to meet his wage package. A June idea that the Magpies could swap the Italy midfielder for Gabriel Martinelli never became a bid, and the Brazil winger instead joined Al-Hilal for a guaranteed £60 million on 3 September while Arsenal paid £75 million for Bruno Guimaraes.

Newcastle had already sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona in May. The Magpies then cashed in their midfield pair and spent the money on eight players aged 24 or under.

The £100m Fee Tottenham Put on the Table

Spurs first came in at about £80 million and were sent away. They returned with an initial £92.5 million plus £7.5 million in add-ons tied to Champions League seasons, a package that can reach £100 million, and Newcastle took it on 1 July. The move was confirmed on Monday 6 July, subject to a work permit, and became a club-record fee above the £85 million already agreed for West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes.

Tonali, 26, signed a six-year deal, took the No. 16 shirt, and is due to earn £275,000 a week. He joined Newcastle from AC Milan for £55 million in July 2023, made 110 appearances, scored 10 goals, and helped win the 2025 Carabao Cup. Sporting director Johan Lange called him one of the best midfielders in Europe. Head coach Roberto De Zerbi said he had followed the player since Brescia, his own hometown club.

I spoke to the Head Coach for close to two hours about the Club, the fans, the stadium and our football. It was like magic because I knew immediately that I had to sign for Tottenham.

Sandro Tonali, on joining Tottenham

He also said several clubs were mentioned around him, then added there was only one. That club was not Arsenal, and it was not a swap partner for Martinelli.

WHERE THE PLAYERS ACTUALLY WENT

Those four sales closed as cash deals. None of them was a player-plus-player trade between the Emirates and St James’ Park.

Why Arsenal Passed on Tonali

Agent Giuseppe Riso had spent the winter advertising a move. In February he told Tuttosport that Newcastle were having a hard time letting go and that Sandro wanted to lead the club to the Champions League, with talks to wait until the season ended. Newcastle then missed out on Europe. The talks that followed were with Tottenham, not with Mikel Arteta’s staff.

Arsenal made no formal approach in the summer. They had been put off by the cost of the package, including the weekly wage and a large agent commission, and they already had a different Newcastle midfielder in mind. A late look from Manchester City ran into the same wall: Tonali had given his word to De Zerbi.

Ranking Tonali above Guimaraes was a June theory the window itself discarded. Once the wage packet landed, Bruno was the midfielder Arsenal could actually get over the line, and they waited until August to do it.

HOW THE SWAP DIED, DATE BY DATE

1. 29 May 2026: Gordon completes a Barcelona move worth £69.3 million including add-ons, leaving Newcastle short on the left wing.
2. 16 June 2026: Tottenham hold positive talks with Tonali’s camp before any club-to-club contact with Newcastle.
3. 1 July 2026: Spurs and Newcastle agree the £92.5 million plus add-ons fee after an £80 million bid is rejected.
4. 6 July 2026: Tonali is unveiled in north London. Eddie Howe leaves Newcastle later in the month and Matthias Jaissle takes over.
5. 8 August 2026: Guimaraes signs for Arsenal for £75 million, the midfield upgrade Arteta pursued once Tonali was gone.
6. 12 August 2026: Galatasaray offer €45 million (£38.4 million) for Martinelli. His camp says no.
7. 1 September 2026: The Premier League window shuts at 11pm with Martinelli still an Arsenal player, unused in the opening matches.
8. 3 September 2026: Al-Hilal complete a guaranteed £60 million deal after the English deadline.

By the time Martinelli left, the left-wing hole at Newcastle had already been filled from France and Germany, not from the Emirates bench.

Martinelli’s Record Sale Went to Riyadh

Martinelli joined Arsenal from Ituano in July 2019 and left with 278 appearances and 62 goals, plus 27 Brazil caps and a Premier League winner’s medal from last season. The £60 million fee, all guaranteed, with a sell-on clause, beat the club’s previous record sale, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s £35 million move to Liverpool in 2017.

The June column that paired him with Tonali leaned on a simple reading of his minutes. He scored 15 Premier League goals in 2022/23, then one in 30 league games last season, and started a full 90 only twice in the league, the second time on the final day with the title already won. He still scored six times in 14 Champions League matches, including against Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, and finished last season with 11 goals in 53 games in all competitions.

Arteta had praised the player even as the minutes dried up. “I adore Gabriel: his attitude, his commitment, his positivity, what he’s willing to do for the team,” the Arsenal head coach said. “He has such a mentality. He’s constantly willing to learn, very demanding with himself.” Those words did not survive the start of this season. Martinelli was left out of the matchday squad for the Community Shield against Manchester City and for the league wins over Coventry City and Aston Villa, after being told he was not in the plans.

He turned down Turkey. He had no Premier League club offering a starting role on Tyneside. Al-Hilal, already adding Crysencio Summerville and Ollie Watkins from last season’s English top flight, paid the number Arsenal wanted and offered wages well above the reported £180,000 a week he earned in north London. He signed a four-year contract with Al-Hilal at Almajdiah Sport Hub on Thursday 3 September, with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal funding the deal, and was due to train that evening ahead of Al-Shabab.

https://x.com/Arsenal/status/2095549885617668445

Arsenal’s attacking addition this summer was Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, not a Newcastle midfielder coming the other way. The Brazilian who was supposed to restart at St James’ Park is now in the Saudi Pro League.

The Captain Arsenal Took From St James’ Park

Guimaraes joined Arsenal on a long-term contract on 8 August, a four-year deal with a further 12-month option, and will wear No. 39. The fee was a flat £75 million, with no performance add-ons. Sporting director Andrea Berta said the Brazilian would strengthen the heart of the team and could play as a holding midfielder or box to box.

Arsenal’s chase of the Newcastle captain ran through June and July while Tonali was already a Spurs player. An earlier verbal offer worth less than £60 million was rejected. Newcastle did not want to sell, then accepted when the player made clear he wanted the move and the champions raised the bid. Guimaraes called it one of the toughest decisions of his life and said he wanted to win trophies.

He made nearly 200 appearances after joining Newcastle from Lyon in January 2022, scored in the 2025 Carabao Cup run, and has 48 Brazil caps. Berta’s description of him as a leader with quantity and quality is the profile Arteta chose over a £100 million Italian on £275,000 a week. The Gunners got the midfielder they could pay for. They did not get involved in a winger-for-midfielder trade that existed mainly on the page.

Eight Signings Under 24 Replace a Sold Spine

Newcastle raised about £245 million including add-ons and spent roughly £300 million, add-ons included, which put them among the world’s four biggest spenders. Net spend was £37 million before add-ons. Gordon, Tonali and Guimaraes left in nine weeks. In came eight players, every one 24 or younger, after Howe stepped down and Jaissle arrived with little time before the new season.

Gordon had given Newcastle nearly 3,000 minutes and 22 goal contributions last season, plus 17 goals in all competitions, 10 of them in 12 Champions League games. Barcelona beat Bayern Munich to him. Newcastle’s first answer on the wing was not a 24-year-old slipping down Arsenal’s order. It was a youth-led reset that started with goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen from Reims for £18.5 million and kept going until deadline day.

THE EIGHT WHO ARRIVED

• Ewen Jaouen: Goalkeeper, 20, from Reims for £18.5 million, completed before the World Cup.
• Bazoumana Toure: Forward, 20, from Hoffenheim for £43 million, the first senior wing option after Gordon.
• Sean Steur: Midfielder, 18, from Ajax for £20.1 million.
• Aladji Bamba: Midfielder, 20, from Monaco for £30 million, part of Newcastle’s youth-led reset.
• Lukas Hornicek: Goalkeeper, 24, from Braga for £25.7 million.
• Amar Dedic: Full-back, 24, from Benfica for £29.5 million.
• Nico Gonzalez: Midfielder, 24, from Manchester City for £48 million, the only intra-Premier League buy.
• Matias Fernandez-Pardo: Forward, 21, from Lille for £51 million on 1 September, a long-term target with a similar profile to a young Gordon.

Osasuna winger Victor Munoz had been lined up in June, then Liverpool took him. Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi, another principal target, chose Aston Villa. Nick Woltemade, a costly mismatch from the previous window, went to Juventus on loan on deadline day as Fernandez-Pardo landed. Jaissle kept Jacob Murphy after two late Nottingham Forest bids and said the squad would play with hope and belief.

De Zerbi’s Brescia Bond Closed the Move

The swap column assumed Arsenal’s interest and Newcastle’s left-wing need would meet in the middle. The need was real. Gordon had gone. Martinelli wanted minutes. Tonali’s agent wanted a bigger stage. What the column missed was who actually sat in the room. De Zerbi had known Tonali since Brescia. The two-hour conversation Tonali later described did the work a hypothetical Martinelli trade was never going to do.

Tottenham’s heavy summer outlay also included Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton for £52 million, and free arrivals Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi. Tonali was the statement in that pile, a player De Zerbi called special, and a bet that a side which had just scrambled clear of trouble could rebuild around an Italy international who wanted London and a coach who spoke his language.

Tonali pulled on Tottenham’s No. 16 after he spoke to the head coach for close to two hours. Martinelli posed in Al-Hilal blue on 3 September. The papers that would have moved them between Arsenal and Newcastle were never drawn up.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Did Tottenham Pay for Sandro Tonali?

The transfer is an initial £92.5 million plus £7.5 million in add-ons for Champions League qualifications, and Tonali signed through 2032 on a six-year contract at £275,000 a week, taking the No. 16 shirt because Conor Gallagher already holds No. 8.

Did Arsenal Bid for Tonali in Summer 2026?

No formal club-to-club bid was lodged; a winter report that Arsenal were exploring a deadline-day move was shut down at the time, with Newcastle saying the player was contracted to 2029, that no approach had been made, and that none was expected or welcome.

Where Did Gabriel Martinelli Go After Leaving Arsenal?

He joined Al-Hilal on a four-year deal funded by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, signed at Almajdiah Sport Hub on 3 September, and was scheduled to train that same evening before a league match against Al-Shabab.

Who Replaced Anthony Gordon at Newcastle United?

Bazoumana Toure arrived from Hoffenheim for £43 million and Matias Fernandez-Pardo followed from Lille for £51 million on deadline day, after Liverpool gazumped a June move for Osasuna winger Victor Munoz that Newcastle had been close to finishing.

How Much Did Arsenal Pay Newcastle for Bruno Guimaraes?

The fee was a straight £75 million with no add-ons; Lyon are due 20 per cent of Newcastle’s profit, about £6 million to £7 million, and around £3.75 million goes to his former clubs in Brazil as solidarity payments.