Newcastle United has made a step further in their pursuit of another Italian midfielder, submitting a €60 million proposal for AC Milan’s Sandro Tonali.
Tonali, a defensive midfielder whose role contrasts with that of fellow Italian prodigy Nicolo Barella, is the latest player to be linked to the Magpies, following the latter’s announcement a few days ago.
While the Italian media believes Newcastle has moved on from Barella, outlets such as The Athletic ($) believe Tonali is being pursued to fill a defensive midfield role, allowing Bruno Guimaraes to play higher up the pitch in his preferred role and position.
Tonali is an Italy international who has failed to establish himself as a regular starter for the Azzurri. However, the 23-year-old was given the captain’s armband for this month’s U-21 European Championship as a reward for his contribution to AC Milan’s Scudetto-winning season.
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While Southampton’s Romeo Lavia and Leeds’ Tyler Adams were connected to the defensive midfield post in Eddie Howe’s 4-3-3, Lavia has a £40 million buyout clause with Manchester City and Adams is recovering from hamstring surgery.
A captain from Italy with Champions League experience would undoubtedly be the sexier—yet more expensive—option for the Magpies.
AC Milan will consider many contract possibilities and will need to choose how they want to manage their finances. Tonali is the sixth-highest earner on AC Milan’s current payroll, earning €89k per week with a contract that runs through June 2027.
In Barella’s instance, it could be argued that his agent was leveraging a stellar season to secure a new deal.
Following the investigative reporting of Twitter reports that tracked a private jet from Milan to Newcastle… can we assume this one is close to becoming a done deal?
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