Newcastle United Star Admits Paolo Maldini’s Call ‘Changed Everything’ | OneFootball

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Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali has revealed that during his childhood he used to have a cup with Gennaro Gattuso’s picture on it and added that Paolo Maldini’s call to sign him changed his life.

The 23-year-old Newcastle midfielder is a childhood AC Milan fan and he joined the Rossoneri in 2020, snubbing a move to their city rivals Inter Milan in the process.

Tonali’s performances for AC Milan made him one of the top midfielders in Serie A, impressed Newcastle, and they signed the midfielder in the summer of 2023, paying a hefty transfer fee.

The Italian revealed that he never accepted Inter Milan’s proposal as he was not interested in joining them and said that his father, who is an AC Milan fan, is the reason behind his love for the Rossoneri.

Tonali revealed that he used to have breakfast with a cup that had a picture of AC Milan legend Gattuso on it and admitted that his life changed when then Rossoneri sporting director Maldini called him to sign him.

“I happened to think about when I could have gone to Inter Milan”, Tonali told Italian daily La Repubblica.

“I never accepted it: not because it wasn’t a strong team, but I wasn’t 100 per cent happy.

“Every day there was talk about it. I listened to my agent and the doubts were great.

“There was a mountain I didn’t want to climb.

“Paolo Maldini’s call changed everything, it made me happy and I said: ‘Either I go to Milan or I stay at Brescia’.

“My dad passed it on to me, this bond with Milan.

“I used to have breakfast with Gattuso’s Rossoneri cup and when it broke I forced my mum to fix it piece by piece.

“When the move materialised, I asked Rino for permission to wear his No.8.”.

He made a total of 130 appearances for AC Milan over his time at the Rossoneri, scoring seven times.

Tonali this season has been crucial to Eddie Howe’s plans for his starting line-up and Newcastle will want to be in top form for the rest of the season to help them with their goal to secure a place in the top four.