Juventus to match Newcastle United asking price for Sandro Tonali – More embarrassing Italian media claims | OneFootball

Only last week, we saw Gazzetta dello Sport claim that Sandro Tonali was desperate to return to AC Milan, or indeed any Serie A club.

The journalist in question who wrote/made up the piece, even saying that Newcastle United could loan Sandro Tonali to an Italian club in January.

Quite how anybody believes this sort of contrived nonsense with absolutely no substance behind it, baffles me. Just because this feeble claim is then blindly repeated by unscrupulous other media in Italy and the UK, doesn’t make it any more believable.

Giuseppe Riso, who is the agent of Sandro Tonali, made clear how pathetic the Italian journalist was, stating ‘Sandro is absolutely not considering to return in Serie A. He is happy at Newcastle United.’

Then Eddie Howe followed up, also saying how embarrassing and laughable the Italian media were, stating ‘It is not in our plans to do without Sandro. These are rumours that make me laugh. Sandro is a vital part of what we are doing. We have made a long-term investment in him and personally, I am really happy with him, we have built a solid relationship.’

The whole pathetic article just aimed at trying to stir things up, with the Italian media still grieving for the fact that one of the very best young Italian homegrown stars, had chosen Newcastle United over AC Milan and Serie A. The lame claims based sole on how much/little Sandro Tonali had played since almost a year out of competitive football.

Sandro Tonali particularly excellent in his last two starts for Newcastle United, the 3-3 draw against Liverpool and hammering Leicester 4-0, now another home match tonight against Brentford in the cup quarter-final. Newcastle United fans keen to see further progression in this very promising Bruno and Tonali partnership in midfield.

Just ahead of this massive cup match, no surprise to see the lame Italian media at it again with Sandro Tonali.

This time it is Corriere dello Sport who are embarrassing themselves.

They claim that they have information as to the transfer fee Newcastle United are wanting for Sandro Tonali, which they say is €55m (£45.4m at today’s exchange rate) and that Juventus are prepared to match that figure and buy the midfielder in the January transfer window.

For those of you who think, ‘well, with all these reports in the Italian media, surely there must be some truth in Sandro Tonali maybe leaving Newcastle United.’ Can I just say this, the Italian media are just the same as ours in the UK, they are desperate to sell newspapers to a backdrop of swiftly declining sales and to get clicks online, exactly the same as the scenario in this country. They put out countless transfer stories that have no substance, just like here.

If you want any further evidence, just consider this.

The AC Milan accounts showed (see below) that in July 2023, Newcastle United paid €58.9m (£48.6m at today’s exchange rate, though it equated to well over £50m wen NUFC bought the midfielder last year) for Sandro Tonali, plus an unspecified amount of potential future add-ons.

So this latest ridiculous Italian media report, claims that Newcastle United would now happily accept €55m, less than the €58.9m they paid for him, when Sandro Tonali was unproven in the Premier League.

We are expected to believe that after going through almost a year where Tonali was banned from playing and NUFC still paying his wages, that Newcastle United would now be prepared to sell the Italy international at a loss, just when we are now starting to see him get a proper chance of a run in the starting eleven and showing such promise!

Honestly, if anybody believes any of this pathetic nonsense from the Italian media, you need to give your head a shake. Even if Newcastle United were prepared to sell Sandro Tonali, they could demand a far higher transfer fee than is claimed in Italy.

I think it is also so disrespectful from the Italian media towards Sandro Tonali, when the player himself has repeatedly said he is determined to repay the support and loyalty shown by Newcastle United and the fans, for the support they gave the midfielder during his suspension.

The Mag report – 29 October 2024:

‘On 3 July 2023, Newcastle United announced that they’d signed Sandro Tonali.

In the announcement, NUFC revealed that the Italy international had signed an initial five year contract, taking him to the end of June 2028.

However, as per normal, the club said it was an ‘undisclosed fee’ they had paid for Sandro Tonali.

A lot of guesswork at the time as to what Newcastle United had actually paid, but now, AC Milan have confirmed the exact figures.

Extracts from the official club accounts making the information public.