As the teams walked out for the national anthems in Bergamo last Thursday night, Sandro Tonali looked down the line and sized up Italy’s opponents. They were Northern Irish and mostly drawn from the bottom half of the Championship. In the days leading up to the World Cup play-off semi-final, Gennaro Gattuso’s staff had prepared videos of them for Tonali and his team-mates to study.
But no sooner did the game kick off at the New Balance Arena than it felt to Tonali like Italy were up against something entirely different. For almost an hour, he thought they were playing against the past.
“We were nervous in the first half,” Tonali confided to Sky Italia. “It was tough. Let’s say, during the week, we saw a few monsters because you get thinking about what Italy has been through, what Italy has done recently. I’m not saying we were afraid, but it can happen.”
The one game in Tonali’s career he’d like to replay is one that lives in ignominy: North Macedonia, four years ago. Another play-off semi-final for World Cup qualification.
Italy were European champions at the time. No one expected them to lose in Palermo. Then Aleksandar Trajkovski scored in the 90th minute. It brought the Italians to their knees.
“We had 30 shots and allowed one. It felt like the ball weighed 50 kilograms and it all went wrong,” Tonali reflected. Going through an experience like that again is something he never wants to endure.
So in the second half against Northern Ireland, Tonali made a statement about his future and where he’d like to play in the summer. His goal, a fizzing half volley from the edge of the box, and the looping assist he laid on for Moise Kean, moved Italy one step closer to the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Tonali scores for Italy against Northern Ireland (Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Twenty-six this coming May, Tonali is yet to play for his country at a major tournament.
He wasn’t part of the squad that won the Euros in 2021. The tournament came too soon after a tough first season at Milan. He was on loan from Brescia and Milan told them they’d only take up the option to sign him permanently if they accepted a lower fee than the one that had already been agreed. It humbled Tonali, who came back with a vengeance, winning the Scudetto the following year. It was Milan’s first in more than a decade. The goal he scored against Northern Ireland was, he considered, “the most important goal I’ve ever scored, together with the one away to Lazio” in the run-in of that title-winning season.
As a boyhood Milan fan who picked up the phone and called Gattuso to ask if he could wear his old No 8 shirt, winning Serie A eased some of the pain of failing to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. Then, unfortunately for him, another major tournament came and went. Tonali missed the Euros in 2024 on account of the ban he was serving for breaching betting regulations.
So if we can be sure about one thing, it’s that being in Toronto on June 12 for what would be Italy’s World Cup opener against Canada matters a lot to Tonali. While some Newcastle United fans were disappointed that a man-of-the-match display for his country came so quickly after he missed the painful 2-1 defeat to Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby, no one can doubt his commitment to both causes. Tonali has played 47 times for his club this season. Only Malick Thiaw has clocked up more minutes for Newcastle.
His focus right now is on Tuesday’s World Cup play-off final against Bosnia in Zenica. But after that, after the World Cup, where will Tonali be playing his club football next season?
Anagraphically, he is entering his prime. This is Tonali’s third season on Tyneside. Although unavailable for much of the first one, he has nevertheless managed to write his name in the history of the club. The Carabao Cup that Newcastle lifted this time last year was their first piece of silverware in 70 years. The round-of-16 tie Newcastle played in the Champions League a fortnight ago was the furthest the club has got in the competition since 2003.
A young Tonali fan (Ed Sykes/Getty Images)
But the 7-2 disintegration at the Camp Nou against Barcelona and the last-minute loss to Sunderland were Newcastle’s ninth and 10th defeats this calendar year. Out of the cups, Newcastle are in the bottom half of the table, 11 points worse off than at this stage last season.
It is a delicate moment for the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) project at St James’ Park. When Milan received a then-club-record fee for Tonali, Newcastle’s owners were still in the midst of a post-Mike Ashley splurge. The summer of 2023 was the last one before the profit and sustainability regulations really started to bite. A year later, sacrifices needed to be made for financial reasons. Yankuba Minteh moved to Brighton on June 30, the end of the accounting year in football. Elliot Anderson joined Nottingham Forest on the same day. Goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos went the other way. He’s now on loan at Sevilla, having made one appearance for Newcastle in the Carabao Cup. Anderson, meanwhile, has emerged as the most wanted midfielder in the Premier League.
Newcastle have been successful regardless, a real credit to Eddie Howe, even if their form this calendar year raises the question of whether he has taken this team as far as he can. Or, phrased another way, has this version of Howe, without an evolution in his ideas and coaching staff, peaked? The Barcelona game, in particular, showed the limits of an intensity-based style against one that has possession at its heart. It is, in fairness, an extreme example, but letting the ball do the work is easier and less attritional on players.
Howe still retains the confidence of new chief executive David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson. He is a monumental figure in the history of the club and can point to last summer in mitigation: the lack of a Hopkinson or a Wilson and the protracted Alexander Isak saga. But Howe’s own influence on that transfer window and that of his nephew, Andy, a senior recruitment executive, should not be downplayed.
This promises to be a pivotal summer for Howe, Newcastle, and the future of some of the team’s stars.
The move Tonali made in 2023 has panned out precisely as agent Beppe Riso wanted. When asked by the reporter Luciano Mondellini about reported interest from teams capable of winning the Premier League, Riso replied: “Exactly, that was the aim from the moment he went to England: to try to turn him into a stellar player. I think he’s one of the most valuable Italian players in the world.”
Tonali has become instrumental to Newcastle (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
He is one that very, very few can afford. If Enzo Fernandez, whose Chelsea future is currently in doubt, cost €121million (£105m; $139m) after the Qatar World Cup and Moise Caicedo and Declan Rice both fetched more than €100m (£87m; $115m) the following summer, Tonali’s valuation will be in and around the same ballpark. For the record, Paul Scholes, one of the best midfielders in Premier League history, believes Tonali is better than Rice.
“Regarding the valuation, it’s something we’ll do in March-April time if Newcastle are open to it,” Riso told Sky Italia at the end of the January transfer window. His comments were made in response to The Athletic’s report that the agent had reached out to Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta after an injury over the winter sidelined Mikel Merino.
But with Newcastle unwilling to do any business at that stage of the window and the theoretical asking price being far beyond Arsenal’s financial capabilities, the situation did not progress any further. No club-to-club talks took place. Riso claimed: “We’ve never spoken to Arsenal about it.” The Athletic stands by its reporting.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, insist that no gentleman’s agreement has been made that allows Tonali to leave Newcastle United in the summer. There is a relationship of mutual respect and appreciation between the club and the player.
The prospective price and Newcastle’s current position on the player, who remains under contract until 2029 with an option for the deal to roll over for another year, makes the Italian’s acquisition an especially tall order, even for the Premier League’s elite.
“We haven’t got an overall strategy with regards players out, necessarily,” Hopkinson told The Athletic on Monday. “We think through what players might or might not want to do this summer. But if an Isak-like scenario presents itself again, any player under contract is going to leave on our terms, and we’re going to maximise the opportunity that might represent for the club.”
Tonali was identified as a priority target for Manchester United last summer, but was not pursued because of the overall costs involved, and while he remains of interest they are considering other options this time round. There is also a concern among some at Old Trafford about his gambling ban. The overall cost of a potential deal is a factor. United sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, played down the prospect of a move for Tonali in the upcoming transfer window.
City have admired Tonali for some time and there is interest from Arsenal, but not at the price that Newcastle are expected to demand, while a return to Italy is out of the question. No one can afford him back home and the club with whom Tonali has been linked the most, Juventus, find themselves at risk of missing out on the Champions League.
The player who has really turned heads this year is Anderson. The 23-year-old former team-mate of Tonali has moved up everyone’s lists, including that of Manchester City, after establishing himself next to Rice in Thomas Tuchel’s England team.
Elliott Anderson has become a top target for Manchester United and others (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Anderson, for instance, is now understood to be the top target for the midfield position at Manchester United, who are keen to sign at least two players in that position, possibly three if Manuel Ugarte is sold.
Brighton’s Carlos Baleba was put in the same category as Tonali by Manchester United last year and they did explore a move briefly at the time. That interest in Baleba could be revived this summer, but he is one of many players on their list. The club’s top range last year was around £50m ($66m) and they will have more to spend in the upcoming window, though their budget will be dictated to some extent by getting high earners such as Marcus Rashford and Andre Onana off their books.
If Manchester United do move for Anderson they would try to complete a deal before the World Cup, as his price could rise and the market become more competitive if he shines at the tournament.
City are keen on Anderson and will be in the market for a midfielder with Bernardo Silva leaving the club when his contract expires this summer. There is also a decision for City to make on Rodri, who could be in line for a contract renewal.
“I’ve got the England badge on now so that’s all I’m thinking about”
Elliott Anderson addresses speculation over his future at Nottingham Forest amid the club’s relegation battle, as he also looks ahead to the World Cup 🌍🌳 pic.twitter.com/t5jrs02fHT
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 30, 2026
Anderson’s age (23) and profile make him a more attractive proposition for teams than Tonali, who turns 26 in May and would have higher wage expectations than the Forest midfielder.
Forest regard Anderson as a top-level player capable of playing for the Premier League’s elite clubs, and see him in the same bracket as Rice, who moved to Arsenal in a £105million deal from West Ham in July 2023. They would expect any fee for Anderson to reflect that and are confident that competition for his signature will drive the price up. They believe he has the ability to shine for England at the World Cup this summer, which would only add to his value again.
Central midfield is a position that looks set to define the summer window in England, particularly if Fernandez continues to leave the impression he doesn’t know if he’ll stay at Chelsea next season.
As for Tonali, he continues to enjoy life in the North East. After becoming a father recently, he has been seen pushing a pram and taking his dog for walks on the beach. He has settled in the area and while he no longer frequents Wetherspoons, he has discovered a taste for Indian food. Tonali will be forever grateful for how the club and the fanbase rallied around him during his ban. “They never judged me or made me feel burdened,” he said.
Tonali also knows exactly what football is like. It wasn’t long ago that he thought he was going to stay at Milan his entire career. Then Newcastle made Milan an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Anderson, a Newcastle fan from Whitley Bay, probably thought PIF’s involvement at Newcastle gave him a good chance to spend his life at the club. He was then sent to Forest to balance the books.
Clubs often lean on players to make moves for financial reasons. Why then, as was the case with Isak, shouldn’t players push clubs for them? This is merely an observation. Tonali has never given any indication he’d act like Isak and has mostly kept his counsel on his future. The one time he did broach it, he tried to be honest with fans about the industry.
Quizzed about his future after Newcastle’s win over Athletic Club in November, he said: “This is a tough question because you know, the football is… You need to think year-to-year because… I think… I don’t want to say: ‘I want to stay for 10 years’. And in two years, three years, four years, or five years, I go. I want to think just for me but year-for-year because this is football, and every summer…
“You know the last time it was tough for us and for Alex, but this is football. If you have an option for your life, for another team, you need to think about everything in the football and I don’t want to say: ‘Yes, I want to stay here for 10 years’. But now I am happy here. I don’t think anything about another team.”
For now, all Tonali is thinking about is playing Bosnia and making sure that Italy play at the World Cup for the first time in 12 years.
Additional reporting: Chris Waugh, Laurie Whitwell, Adam Crafton, David Ornstein
