Manchester United will be keeping an eye on Spurs this season after they signed Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, and both have now played their first game for Spurs.
After signing for a combined £185m, the expectations for the pair are high, especially as Man Utd have signed Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans for a combined £85m.
Fernandes did well for Spurs on his first appearance against MK Dons, scoring a wondergoal, and the Man Utd fans‘ verdict has also arrived on Sandro Tonali.
Here’s what they had to say after watching Tonali, with one thing clear to see.
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Man Utd fans on Sandro Tonali
United were seriously in for Mateus Fernandes till the very end, but they quickly moved past Sandro Tonali after his price tag was confirmed.
After spending £100m on the player, the expectations are understandably high, and so is the scrutiny that comes with it.
Tonali was largely okay on his first appearance for Spurs, but eagle-eyed Man Utd fans still spotted something which would have caused Michael Carrick to move on from him.
Tonali misplaced some passes rather wildly, and it prompted a declaration that his weakness on the ball will get exposed when he’s asked to dominate possession at the Premier League level.
“United really dodged a bullet,” said one, as another wrote, “Looks like he’s carrying some lumber. Needs to run off summer pasta.”
A third said, “I truly don’t know why you’d go from Newcastle to Spurs. Must be the wages.” A fourth said, “He’s not a bad player, but he’s really not that good. I wonder how United fans watch him that much and still rate him.”
Another said that passing has never been Tonali’s strong suit, “Tonali has never been good on the ball. He’s mostly good at scoring goals.”
A fan passed a final, clear verdict, writing, “He’s nowhere near as good as people make out and definitely isn’t worth the fee they paid.”
The key point here is that Tonali might well go on to become a success at Spurs, but considering his skill set, it’s unlikely that United regret not buying him, especially for that fee.
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