We were blindsided yesterday by news that Sandro Tonali’s agent had reportedly offered the midfielder’s services to Arsenal on deadline day, a claim the club and then the agent himself promptly denied.
Losing one of our star players ahead of such a crucial period would have been the last thing Howe would have wanted, and he’s now addressed speculation surrounding the 25-year-old’s future.
Thankfully, the boss is not concerned, also sharing the positive conversations he’s had with the man himself while rumours of a potential exit were rife on Monday.
Asked if he was worried that the deadline day rumours could be the start of a 2026 saga to unsettle the Italian, Howe said:
> _“I don’t think so…but lots of things happen without my knowledge. As far as I’m aware we have an outstanding person and player and he seems really happy within himself with a great relationship with me and his teammates. So that would surprise me._
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> _“But as one of our best players he’s always going to be attracting glances — that’s the reality of football. All encompassed I don’t see an issue but I’m not in control of everything.”_
Howe then revealed details of his chat with the man himself on deadline day, insisting that Tonali is happy, committed and only focused on our cup semi-final against Man City:
> _“Sandro is absolutely fine, I had a discussion with him yesterday. He’s focused on the here and the now, and playing for us._
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> _“Talking to him yesterday his only focus was a Man City and trying to win that game. He’s happy and committed. There’s absolutely no issue with Sandro himself._
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> _“I find it difficult to talk about things that I don’t know too much about. I can only talk about Sandro as the person and the player, and his mindset. Having discussed things with him yesterday, he’s absolutely fine.”_
Howe did accept that our best players are bound to attract some level of interest from top clubs, but he’s doubled down on our plan to keep the squad together:
> _“Our best players will always be attracting glances from other clubs, that is just the reality of football._
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> _“We want to keep the group together, keep being progressive, and, of course, Sandro plays a part in that._
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> _“All encompassed I don’t see an issue but I am not in control of everything.”_
As things stand, you would expect Tonali to feature on Wednesday night as he’s one of the very few midfield options Howe can call upon, with [Bruno Guimaraes and Lewis Miley both set to miss out](https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2026/02/03/official-injury-update-on-bruno-guimaraes-lewis-miley-and-sven-botman/).