Newcastle officials have always privately conceded there was a strong possibility of Tonali following Anthony Gordon through the exit door at St James’ Park this summer, with the club having lined up a number of potential replacements for the Italian.
There was more surprise at recent stories suggesting Tottenham had moved into pole position to sign Tonali as the north London club had never previously been mentioned as a potential destination for the 26-year-old.
Italian boss Roberto De Zerbi has a personal relationship with Tonali and is understood to be pushing those above him to try to engineer a deal for his compatriot.
However, should Spurs firm up their ongoing interest by tabling a formal offer, that is likely to spark Tonali’s other suitors into action.
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Manchester United are not understood to be considering a move for the Magpies midfielder, while Manchester City continue to regard Elliot Anderson as their number one central-midfield target, albeit with Nottingham Forest standing firm over the England international.
Arsenal have not begun their summer transfer business yet, but there has always been a sense amongst Newcastle sources that the Emirates would be Tonali’s likeliest destination if he was to leave Tyneside.
The Premier League champions are known to be long-term admirers, and are looking to strengthen the squad that won the domestic title last season, but that came up just short in Europe, losing to Paris St Germain in the Champions League final.
Whoever comes to the table for Tonali, though, Newcastle officials are adamant they will not be reducing their valuation of the midfielder, which is understood to involve £100m being the baseline figure for discussions.
Nottingham Forest are understood to be valuing Anderson at around £125m, with Newcastle feeling Tonali is every bit as desirable as their former academy product.
Lewis Hall is another Newcastle player continuing to attract outside attention, with Chelsea understood to have included the left-back on a list of potential replacements for Marc Cucurella, who joined Real Madrid earlier this week.
Tino Livramento was linked with Arsenal and Manchester City at the start of the summer, but it remains to be seen whether the calf injury that forced his withdrawal from England’s World Cup squad makes clubs more wary of making a move for him this summer.