Sandro Tonali’s Newcastle United future is going to be a hot topic from now until the summer transfer window closes or, God forbid, he moves to another club.
The Italian has proven himself as one of the top midfielders in the Premier League since he joined the Magpies for £55 million in 2023.
Tonali had a dip in form earlier this season, but it was during a time when the team as a whole wasn’t performing, so it’s hard to point the finger too much in his direction.
Since Bruno Guimaraes picked up his hamstring injury, Sandro Tonali has really stepped up to command the midfield in the Brazilian’s absence. His upturn in form couldn’t have come at a better time for Newcastle.
His brilliant form in Bruno’s absence has also brought the covetous eyes of other clubs back towards the Italian, and links to other ‘big six’ rivals aren’t going away after previous suggestions Arsenal were in the mix.
Another rumour doing the rounds, alongside the unlikely Bruno Guimaraes links, is that Manchester United are working on a summer move as they look to find a replacement for Casemiro, who is due to leave Old Trafford at the end of the season.
This comes from The iPaper’s Mark Douglas and Pete Hall, who cover Newcastle and Man United, respectively. They claim that Manchester United have added Sandro Tonali to their midfield wishlist, revealing that Chelsea are also ‘monitoring’ the former AC Milan star.
Douglas reports that Newcastle look set to demand “in excess” of £100 million for the Italian, believing he is one of the elite midfielders in the Premier League and should cost a similar fee to that paid for Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Declan Rice in years gone by.
Other Man United targets are mentioned, so there’s no guarantee he is the one and only option they’ll push to sign, but it’s pretty much guaranteed that the Red Devils are going to spend big to fill up their midfield this summer.
Other players on their ‘list’ include former Mag Elliot Anderson, now at Nottingham Forest, and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton; two England talent who will both fetch a pretty penny.
Sandro Tonali has never hidden his ambition, and when asked about his future before, he’s always been honest and refused to commit to saying he’d stay at any one club long-term because football changes so quickly. That’s not him saying he wants to move, but rather him being realistic.
If Newcastle fails to qualify for Europe this season, then convincing the likes of Tonali to stay to get us back into the competition is going to be a difficult task that Ross Wilson is going to have to face, and that will be made even harder if Manchester United comes knocking with £100m-plus in hand.
We still get the feeling that Tonali is happy at Newcastle and won’t ‘do an Isak’, but we are very worried that failing to qualify for Europe could change that very quickly.