Tottenham Hotspur announced the signing of Portugal midfielder Mateus Fernandes from West Ham United for a club-record £85 million on Thursday, and within hours British media reported that a deal worth up to £100 million had been agreed with Newcastle United for Italian international Sandro Tonali. The double move, which will see Spurs break their transfer record twice in a single week, signals an abrupt end to the restrained spending that characterised the club under former chairman Daniel Levy.

Fernandes, 21, arrives after West Ham’s relegation from the Premier League, ending a stay of more than a decade in the top flight. The one-time international, who came through the Sporting Lisbon academy and previously played for Southampton, was persuaded by head coach Roberto De Zerbi. “When we spoke, it was very special. We look at football in the same way – going onto the pitch as a strong team, with fight and energy, to try and win every game,” Fernandes said. De Zerbi, who described the midfielder as combining quality on the ball with intensity and intelligence, had identified him as a primary target. Brazilian press noted that Tottenham beat competition from Manchester United to secure the player.

Tonali, 26, is expected to undergo a medical on Thursday ahead of signing a six-year contract. The initial fee of £92.5 million, plus £7.5 million in add-ons, surpasses the Fernandes outlay. De Zerbi has admired the midfielder since his time at Sassuolo, and Spurs returned with an improved offer after an earlier bid of around £80 million was rejected. Tonali joined Newcastle from AC Milan for £55 million in 2023, served a ten-month worldwide ban for betting breaches, then helped the club win the Carabao Cup and qualify for the Champions League. Neither Arsenal nor Manchester City, both reported to have shown interest, made a formal approach.

The spending spree follows a season in which Tottenham finished 17th, two points above the relegation zone. The Lewis family, majority owners, promised a rebuild after Levy stepped down in September, and De Zerbi has now been backed with five summer signings. Experienced trio Andrew Robertson, Marcos Senesi and goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka arrived on free transfers, while Dutch defender Jan Paul van Hecke cost a reported £52 million from Brighton. The combined outlay on Fernandes and Tonali alone exceeds £185 million, a figure that Russian financial observers contextualise within a broader surge in Premier League expenditure – English clubs spent $3.82 billion on transfers in 2025 – and ongoing debates about financial fair play, particularly after UEFA capped contract amortisation at five years.

With Tonali’s medical imminent, Tottenham’s midfield is set for a radical overhaul. The club, which only secured survival on the final day of the previous campaign, now possesses a revamped core as it seeks to climb away from the lower reaches of the table. The next concrete step will be the formal completion of Tonali’s transfer, after which De Zerbi can begin integrating his two marquee signings into a squad that has been fundamentally reshaped in a matter of weeks.