Tonali revealed he crossed paths twice with the Brescia and Italy legend during the negotiation, a process that played out not over a boardroom table but across a series of meetings near his family home outside the city — head coach Roberto De Zerbi deliberately chose to travel to Italy himself rather than summon the player to England.
"Brescia is so small. I had two weeks there and met him two or three times," Tonali said.
Nine years earlier, De Zerbi had tried and failed to sign Tonali while managing Sassuolo — the germ of what the midfielder now calls their "mini-connection." That history resurfaced this year in two stages: first a quiet check via a mutual friend, Brescia's team manager, who confirmed Tonali might be receptive; then, once Spurs' survival was mathematically secure, a direct approach from De Zerbi himself.
A reply came back inside 10 minutes.
"I read one story about Sandro which said 'Tonali is leaving Newcastle in the summer', and I sent a message to my friend to say 'hey, inform Sandro, if we stay up, I go to him'," De Zerbi explained.
"We spoke about Brescia, about the difficult situation facing our club," Tonali added, referring to the financial collapse of his boyhood side, which was liquidated this week owing roughly £20 million in debt following relegation to Italy's third tier.
Manchester City were also credited with interest, and Spurs themselves were coming off a 17th-place finish rather than a season that would obviously outsell a move elsewhere, but Tonali insists the pull of a single conversation settled it.
"Honestly, I spoke with another team," he revealed. "When you speak with a team, the first impression is a big thing and my impression was very positive. When you are happy after a 10-minute chat, it's everything, everything is perfect."
By his own estimate, the switch to London itself barely factored into the calculation — he put the city at roughly 10% of the appeal, with football, De Zerbi and Tottenham's recruitment set-up making up the rest. Money, in the end, closed off any route back to Italy that he and his family had once hoped for.
"I spoke with my wife — this was the first thing. We wanted to change our life, but not just for the city, we wanted to change everything. We had decided to come back in Italy but it was impossible for the money," he said, noting that Italian suitors could stretch to his wages but not Newcastle United's valuation of him.
"England was our solution and we found the best solution in England for me, for my career, for my football, for my happiness, for my family."
None of it, Tonali was careful to note, reflects badly on the club he left. He brought up his old manager without being asked: "Eddie [Howe] was fantastic for me," he said, adding that he intends to stay in touch with both Howe and Newcastle sporting director Ross Wilson. He praised the St James' Park crowd and said he wanted his former club to get "the best deal" possible in any negotiations, insisting Newcastle "deserve everything" — sentiments he expects to carry with him into a Tottenham dressing room that already includes compatriot Destiny Udogie and several Italian voices on the coaching staff.