A current Manchester United star has dished out transfer advice to Sandro Tonali, who is being linked with a move to Old Trafford
Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United
Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United (Image: Newcastle United via Getty Images)
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Sandro Tonali once received transfer advice from a Manchester United star before a big-money transfer.
Newcastle's Italian midfielder is being linked with a move to Old Trafford this summer, with United keen to strengthen in the centre of the park, especially with Casemiro set to depart. A return to Italy with Juventus has also been mooted, while Manchester City are also reportedly monitoring the situation, reports the Telegraph.
Tonali's agent recently stirred the pot by revealing his client is considering his future, raising fears among Newcastle fans that one of Eddie Howe's most important players could be off at the end of the season. Tonali has faced big decisions previously in his career, including when he was making waves at Brescia.
A host of leading Italian clubs were chasing his signature, including Juventus, during Matthijs de Ligt's club at the time. As he was weighing up his future, the pair had a chance meeting in a restaurant, where Tonali discussed his next move.
He told Cronache in March last year: "We were in Sardinia, Cistana, Torregrossa, and I, the Brescia group, basically. We met De Ligt at a restaurant.
"It was the year we played against each other in Serie A, the year of Covid. He spoke highly of Juventus. As a player, he advised me to consider it.
"Those were the days when I was negotiating with AC Milan. We stopped to talk after a game. Sometimes, for a handful of seconds, you find yourself chatting with an opponent even if you don't know them, more out of respect.
Matthijs de Ligt prior to the pre-season friendly match between Manchester United and Leeds United at Strawberry Arena.
Mattijs de Ligt once dished out transfer advice to Sandro Tonali(Image: Linnea Rheborg/Getty Images)
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"Some of them you memorise and when you see them, you think, 'I've seen this before.' It was the summer I ended up in the newspapers because it was difficult for me to return to Serie B with Brescia.
"AC Milan, Inter and Juventus were up for grabs all summer. So everyone was telling me, 'Come to Inter, come to AC Milan, come to Juventus.'"
Tonali, who would join AC Milan instead of Juve, was recently linked with a deadline day move to Arsenal, although Newcastle were swift to insist no contact had been made and Howe later signalled his intention to hang on to his £55million signing from AC Milan.
Sandro Tonali
Sandro Tonali is reportedly on Man United's transfer radar(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Image)
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Magpies chief executive David Hopkinson has acknowledged the interest in Tonali, saying recently: "He's not the only player we had that other clubs would covet, so I think if we get a situation where people aren't trying to muck about and sow some chaos into the marketplace in order to dislodge our players, then we’ve got a real problem.
"Sandro has been a wonderful player. I believe he's happy here and we're certainly happy with him."