· 23 October 2025, 11:30
While it's expected that Sandro Tonali is likely to be offered new terms at Newcastle United to better reflect his importance to the team, it was revealed yesterday that the Italian has already signed an extension to his initial deal.
When Sandro Tonali arrived at Newcastle United for around £55 million, he initially signed a deal until 2028, but shortly after his arrival, he was slapped with a 10-month ban for breaching betting laws.
It has now been revealed that during his time serving that ban, Tonali committed himself to Newcastle beyond his existing terms, signing a one-year extension with an option to extend by another year, meaning his current deal technically runs to 2030.
The Italian feels he owes the club a debt for standing by him during that difficult period, and signing a contract extension to make up for the time he couldn't play seemed like the right thing to do for starters.
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Sandro Tonali is going nowhere
Italian media aren't taking the news well
Now Tonali is probably the first name on the teamsheet for Eddie Howe when he's fully fit; however, there's always talk from Italy of a return of the prodigal son, with the media over there determined to engineer his comeback.
It doesn't matter how many times Tonali insists he's happy at Newcastle; they will insist he's homesick. They know full well that even the biggest clubs in Italy don't have the financial muscle to make a deal work but they won't give up.
After the news broke about Tonali's secret extension, Tuttomercatoweb snorted a hefty line of copium and contacted Newcastle for verification.
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Sandro Tonali does want to return to Italy ... eventually
A source at Newcastle reportedly told the outlet that everyone expects Tonali to return to Italy, but it won't be in the short term.
“For us he is a key player. We know that probably in the coming years he may also want to return to Italy. Certainly it won’t be relevant in the short term.”
This fits with everything Tonali has said. He's never ruled out a return home; he's just said it won't be soon. Clearly, he has plans to go home, perhaps towards the end of his career, but for now, he's more than happy to be at Newcastle, and you can see it in how he plays.