Man City could do a deal to sign £55m midfield star

2025 appears set to be a big-spending year for Manchester City.

Already, the Sky Blues have splashed over £125m on new recruits; the headline duo Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush both debuted from the start during Saturday’s come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Chelsea.

Meantime, Vitor Reis was an unused substitute, hoping to make his own maiden Man City appearance at Arsenal on Sunday, while Juma Bah is one for the future, joining from Real Valladolid, but set to spend the remainder of the campaign on loan at Lens.

Pep Guardiola isn’t done there though, with the Citizens looking to bring in one of the Premier League’s best midfielders.

Manchester City seeking midfield reinforcements

According to claims from Gianluca Di Marzio via TEAMtalk, Manchester City could be set to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in the race to sign Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali.

The report stated: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Real Madrid could take him, but City could do it too. Sandro is a player who, beyond a possible return to Italy – because he could be happy to return – could have an international outlet on the market.”

Tonali became the most expensive Italian player in history by joining the Magpies from AC Milan for a reported £55m in 2023, but his first season on Tyneside certainly didn’t go to plan, making a mere 12 appearances before being banned for ten months for breaching betting regulations.

The Italian did score on his debut for the Toon Army, on target just six minutes into the 5-1 demolition of Aston Villa, with Sky Sports News reporter Keith Downie describing Tonali as “class”, noting that he “dictated the pace of the game and didn’t waste a single pass”.

How Sandro Tonali would fit in at Manchester City

Since making his long-awaited return against Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup in August, Tonali has made his importance to Newcastle clear, starting 13 of their last 14 matches in either the Premier League or Carabao Cup, bagging a brace against Brentford in December, before also finding the net at Southampton on Saturday.

Teammate Bruno Guimarães described Tonali as an “unbelievable player”, while William Bitibiri of Sky Sports added that the Italian’s presence in midfield provides a “feeling of security”, allowing Guimarães and Joelinton to get forward.

Such a trio has been described by Luke Edwards of the Telegraph as “the Premier League’s best midfield” so the Toon star certainly knows a thing or two about playing alongside some elite operators.

Of course, at City, he could play alongside the best in the world. Indeed, any discussion about Manchester City’s midfield has to revolve around Rodri and how Tonali could feature alongside him.

The Spaniard hasn’t featured since rupturing his ACL in September but is aiming to be back in time for the FIFA Club World Cup in June and July.

In his absence, neither Mateo Kovačić nor İlkay Gündoğan has proved to be the perfect deputy, so let’s examine how Tonali and Rodri compare, assessing whether or not they’d form a good partnership.

As the table outlines, Rodri comes out on top for all in-possession statistics, passes, pass completion % and touches, but considering he is the current Ballon d’Or winner, this is holding Tonali to an unrealistically high standard.

Nevertheless, the Italian’s numbers in-possession are still impressive, while it is his out-of-possession numbers that catch the eye, on par with Rodri for tackles and interceptions per 90, since the start of the 2022/23 season, while marginally higher for fouls.

All of this suggests the pair would form a formidable partnership so, if Man City are able to prise Tonali away from Newcastle, they should absolutely do so.