Tottenham insider adamant ‘club legend’ is done as a result of Tonali and Fernandes deals | OneFootball

A Tottenham insider feels a “club legend” is done if the signings of midfield stars Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes are made this summer.

Spurs are going hard in the summer transfer window so far. The defence is already sorted, with Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson and Jan Paul van Hecke, and there are some bigger names in view for the midfield.

Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali and West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes are both the subject of hard pushes from Tottenham, and it’s believed progress is being made on both.

Spurs insider John Wenham feels that if both those men are signed – which he has recently suggested will happen – then a very important player in the club’s last season won’t return.

He told Tottenham News: “If we sign Tonali and Fernandes, Tottenham will not sign Joao Palhinha. It’s a massive shame for Joao because he was instrumental in keeping us up and he should forever be warmly welcomed at Tottenham Hotspur.

“Even as a club legend, actually, because of the massive contribution that he made in keeping us in the division.

“But I think when they’ve invested those funds elsewhere, on Tonali, on Fernandes, they’ll be our first choice in the centre of midfield.”

Palhinha scored two very important goals en route to Spurs’ Premier League survival last season – winners in 1-0 victories over Wolves and Everton. The strike against the former came in the 82nd minute, while victory over the Toffees on the final day secured safety.

However, Tottenham chose not to use their £26million option to buy Palhinha from Bayern Munich this summer, and while there have been suggestions they could enter into separate negotiations, if both the midfielders in their sights are signed, it seems there will be no need.

Fernandes deal not done yet

How advanced they are on the other transfers is currently being reported differently by different outlets.

There has been a suggestion that Tottenham’s signing of Fernandes was done, but Ben Jacobs has denied that.

He said: “Manchester United are still in talks with the player at the time of recording and West Ham United, and Tottenham are there as well.

“We’ve heard some suggestions in the last 24-48 hours that it’s a done deal with Spurs. We’re not there yet.

“Tottenham have been in advanced talks with the player; Manchester United’s talks with the player pre-date Tottenham entering the race – and again, it could change very quickly.

“But at the time I’m recording this, Fernandes has not made a decision on which club he wants to join – and there could be others to enter the race as well.”