£120m star ready to reject Spurs to sign for Arsenal

As England kicked off their World Cup campaign on Wednesday night, they did so with Arsenal‘s Declan Rice and Noni Madueke in the starting XI. They were without Bukayo Saka.

For Saka and Rice, they have been dealing with injury problems. The former has an Achilles issue that is being carefully managed by Thomas Tuchel and Co while the latter flew out to America having had back injections to manage a problem in the concluding weeks of the season.

The hope will be that for the Gunners, they come through this tourament unscathed and ready for another campaign of challenging for major silverware at club level.

What would no doubt help Rice is more depth and quality in midfield. With Mikel Merino injured, Christian Norgaard ignored and Myles Lewis-Skelly not handed minutes until the final month of the season, it meant the club’s record arrival had to play virtually every minute possible.

Thankfully, the Gunners are looking to correct their lack of depth in midfield.

Big-money midfielder wants Arsenal move

While Arsenal’s big priority this summer is to sign a new elite winger, with Morgan Rogers allegedly wanting to seal a move to the Emirates this summer, they are also ramping up their plans to sign a midfielder or two.

Morocco’s World Cup star Ayyoub Bouaddi has been the subject of talks between various parties while personal terms are allegedly in place with Roma’s box-to-box midfielder, Manu Kone.

There has even been talk of a huge move for West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes, although the feeling on that one is that he is more likely to join Manchester United instead.

Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United is also an option for the Gunners but that move may not be quite so straightforward.

Back in the winter, talks were held over a move for Tonali and while Arsenal did not ulimately end up pursuing that one too intently, he is a player of interest once again.

Reports in recent days have covered that the Italian is now Tottenham Hotspur’s leading target with contract terms being agreed ahead of a potential move.

That said, according to new reports from Sports Boom, it is not Spurs who the player is favouring. Indeed, it is reported that if both Tottenham and Arsenal reached an agreement with Newcastle to sign him, he would choose the Gunners.

Tonali is said to hold huge respect for Roberto De Zerbi but he cannot stop thinking about Arsenal.

The trouble is it could take a club-record fee to extract him from St James’ Park. The Toon value him on the same level as Elliot Anderson at £120m.

Speaking of Anderson, Tonali could well become Arsenal’s own version.

How Tonali compares to Elliot Anderson

The hot topic in football right now is Mr Anderson. Set to star alongside Rice for the Three Lions in America this summer, it will surely not be too long before he gets his move.

Manchester United and Manchester City have both closely pursued the midfielder but he looks poised to move to the Etihad providing a fee can be agreed between the two clubs.

Arsenal have reportedly also shown an interest in the midfielder but have never formalised any plans. They clearly admire him but by signing Tonali, they could sign their answer to the impressive Englishman.

One of the big problems for the Gunners last season was their lack of quality depth in the centre of the pitch. Both Martin Zubimendi and Rice played the highest volume of minutes of any outfield player at Arsenal. Mikel Arteta did eventuality start fielding Lewis-Skelly in that position but aged 19, it’s probably unwise to suggest he could play an entire 38 game season in that role.

Arteta needs more options and in Tonali, he’d be able to acquire “one of the best midfielders in the world” in the words of his agent Beppe Riso.

So, what makes the Newcastle star so special?

Analysing the data, it is abundantly clear why Anderson has been valued as highly as he has. He betters Tonali in pretty much every metric we’ve supplied you with.

However, while the England man is a better duel winner and makes a lot more ball recovieres, there are similarities elsewhere, notably in their ability to carry the play, create chances and keep things ticking over in the middle of the park.

Both players have an elite hustle and bustle about them. They scurry about the midfield mopping up play, breaking it up and then moving it on in a swift fashion.

You do also have to consider the teams the two players were playing for. Anderson was featuring for a relegation-threatened Forest side who were always on the back foot. His defensive numbers are always going to be inflated due to that. Keeping that in mind, it actually brings him a lot closer to Tonali.

Put Anderson in that City team and his numbers, perhaps ball recovieres aside, would be on a very level playing field to Tonali.

Make not mistake about it, Arsenal should not be paying £120m for Tonali, regardless of whether he wants to join. However, if they can get the price below £100m and more towards the £80m-£90m mark, you could understand the investment a bit more.