Sandro Tonali believes that nobody at Tottenham has suffered more than Roberto De Zerbi as the team has finally turned the corner this season.

Spurs have struggled in recent seasons and De Zerbi helped save the north London club from the drop after being parachuted in for the final two months of the last campaign. That sparked a major summer overhaul with more than £300million spent across 10 new arrivals and some big names heading out of the door, such as captain Cristian Romero.

One of those big money transfers was Tonali with De Zerbi pushing for the club to sign the 26-year-old from Newcastle in a deal that could eventually reach £100million. However, the Italy international and his team-mates took their time to find their feet and gel and it was only after a spirited draw at Manchester United with 10 men and then a team bonding trip to Marbella that the first Premier League win arrived.

It came against promoted side Coventry with a 3-1 victory last Monday and was followed up by Tottenham's best performance of the season so far as they won 2-0 at Chelsea, recording only the club's second win at Stamford Bridge in their past 42 visits to SW6.

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Tonali has been getting progressively better with each passing game, bossing the midfield, and De Zerbi said his compatriot played his best match for the club on Saturday night since arriving from Newcastle.

In between the two victories, Tonali spoke to Sky Sport Italia and told them that the tough first chapter of the season was now closed and that the head coach had felt the pain more than anyone else as he tried to get the new-look team moving in the right direction.

"Monday was a bit of a wrap-up for this first part of the season. It's been a constant growth, we shouldn't just look at our start but take the positives," said the Spurs man as quoted by Milan News.

"The performances were excellent, everyone loves the coach, who is suffering more than anyone here at Tottenham. We know we have a lot to give him because we haven't achieved anything yet. Since last week, we've been much more of a team, we can't stop. We need to stay positive and play our football."

Tonali also spoke about his affection for AC Milan after his time at the Serie A giants, the club he grew up supporting as a child.

"Milan will always be my favorite team, no matter how much time passes," he said. "Even in 20 years, I'll continue to follow them whenever my commitments allow me, because this feeling will never change."