Tonali Out For Money As £100M Comes In

News that a deal has been struck for Sandro Tonali to join Spurs means only one thing; I bet he and his agent have left for the dazzle of money not ambition.

Talking of bets; Tonali of course was banned in the first season after signing due to betting on matches. Well, he can bet he won't be getting the best of welcomes when he arrives back at SJP this coming season.

"One greedy barsteward" might well ring out around the ground.

Had Tonali gone to City or Arsenal I don't think the feeling among fans would have been as cutting and cynical as it is... but Spurs? Money, money, money...

More signals ring out to the squad

After the downbeat signal that was sent to the squad last summer when our top targets turned us down for the established top PL clubs, the signal sent now is that if you are a top Toon player and you want top money you won't get it at Newcastle United.

Money talks, and the persistent fact is that the PL's financial restrictions have cut the tongue out of PIF's billions. What is all the more galling is that it was deliberate.

The Pl's decison, shortly after PIF's takeover, to ban intercompany sponsorship was the knife to the tongue.

That prevented PIF from getting their myriad of companies to sponsor the ground, shirts, et al, with the million pound deals that would have really made us one of the richest clubs in the world.

The PL and top 6 clubs never wanted PIF to own Newcastle and threaten the establishment. They colluded together to stop it and it was only when Ashley gathered the information to prove it in court that the PL caved in to avoid being found out.

Their revenge was the ban on intercompany sponsorship and it stinks.

That has put Newcastle firmly where the PL and top 6 wanted us - as also rans in the income stakes that define transfer budgets and wages paid.

We are now seeing how that has crushed the expectation and ambition that surrounded the club after we won the Carabou Cup and qualified for the CL in season 24/25.

Last summer was supposed to be the transfer window that made our step to that next level clear; instead it did exactly the opposite as player after player turned us down for the established top clubs and the riches they can offer.

And now? Tonali jumps ship for a club who escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth but can offer him at least £100K a week more than one of the richest club owners in the world are allowed to pay. YCMIU... but actually the Premier League did.

As Keegan famously said... "I'd love it, just love it, if we stuck it right up them"

Make no mistake - there will be some smug faces in the boardrooms of the PL and big 6 clubs as they watch their scheming put a spanner in NUFC's works.

But, revenge is best served cold.

And the best way to pour cold water on those smug faces is for the club to unearth the gems that can power us to the CL next season and take a place away again from the grinning 6.

It's a tall order for the recriotment team and Eddie Howe, but it has to be the goal.

In some ways the club is under siege at the moment - we may even lose our Commander in Chief Bruno to make the battle even harder to win.

But, we have a transfer war chest that could soon be overflowing. Our powder is still dry and small guns can sink big ships.

Find those small guns, get the right players to join the battle, and this coming season may yet see us drill big holes in SS Big Six and have the likes of Tonali floating in the flotsam we leave behind.

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