Newcastle United latest news: Pep Guardiola has revealed what he said to Sandro Tonali following Man City’s Carabao Cup semi-final victory.
Guardiola’s side cruised to a 3-1 win on the night (5-1 on aggregate) to book their place in next month’s final against Arsenal. Newcastle, meanwhile, paid the price for a disappointing defeat at St James’ Park in the first-leg and a very poor first-half performance at the Etihad Stadium that saw them trail by three goals at the break.
As Tony Harrington blew the final whistle to call not just time on the match, but also Newcastle United’s grip on the Carabao Cup trophy that they won back in March, Guardiola and Tonali were caught deep in discussion by TV cameras. Tonali played the full 90 on Wednesday night and post-match, Guardiola was asked what he and the Italian international were discussing in the immediate aftermath of the final whistle.
Guardiola responded: “What did I say [to Sandro Tonali]? My Italian is perfect, so that's why I can communicate with him. And we have an incredible friend in common from Brescia, Edoardo Piovani.
“And every time we are connected, I know his father some time ago and all the time we met we talked about his experience in Milan, the supporters, and how happy he is in Newcastle. He's a really, really top player, top, top, top player!”
This is far from the first time that Newcastle United players have courted the attention of Guardiola following a match between City and the Magpies with Bruno Guimaraes having been at the centre of his attention following Newcastle United’s win over the Citizens at St James’ Park in November. However, this interaction with Tonali came just days after he was linked with a shock move away from St James’ Park.
Sandro Tonali transfer latest
As deadline day broke dawn on Monday, reports from Germany hinted that Tonali had been offered to Arsenal. The Gunners were reeling from an injury suffered by Mikel Merino, with Mikel Arteta admitting that they could look into the market for a replacement.
Those reports were very quickly shot down by various sources, with Newcastle United very unwilling sellers and Tonali happy at the club: “Sandro's absolutely fine,” Howe said in the aftermath of deadline day. “I had discussions with Sandro yesterday [Monday].
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“He's absolutely focused on the here, the now, playing for us. His only focus, talking to him yesterday, was Manchester City and trying to win that game.
“So there's absolutely no issue with Sandro himself. He's very happy and he's committed.
“I find it difficult to talk about things I don't know too much about. I can only talk about Sandro as the person and the player and his mindset here and now, having discussed things with him yesterday. He's absolutely fine.”
Newcastle United now have just a few days to lick their wounds from the defeat at the Etihad Stadium before another tough match, this time against Brentford in the Premier League. Kick-off against the Bees on Saturday is at 5:30pm.
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