'He's a superstar': Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson speaks out about Sandro Tonali after deadline day drama
Sandro Tonali was the talk of the Toon on Monday after a report surfaced suggesting that Arsenal were readying a swoop for Newcastle United's midfield maestro.
While the club were quick to shut the rumours down, the story gained new life later in the day when it was revealed that Tonali's agent had initiated contact with Arsenal, something that he later denied.
It was all a bit of a mess, and it sent flutters of panic throughout the fanbase that we could be about to lose one of our star players yet again.
Eddie Howe moved to calm things down in his press conference, insisting that he's seen no signs of unhappiness from Tonali and that as far as he's aware, the Italian is fully committed to Newcastle United.
David Hopkinson insists Sandro Tonali is happy at Newcastle
Those sentiments were echoed by CEO David Hopkinson on Wednesday morning as he spoke to talkSPORT in a 20-minute interview at St James' Park.
"What I do know, he's a superstar player, he's under contract here. And by the way, he's not the only player we have that other clubs would covet.
"I think if we get to the situation where people aren't trying to muck about and sow some chaos into the marketplace and dislodge our players, we've got a bigger problem.
"Sandro's wonderful. I see him with smiles on everyday I see him. I believe he's happy here, and we're certainly happy with him."
A lot can change between now and the summer
We all know how quickly things can change in football, but as Hopkinson went on to say, a player's head only gets turned when they're unhappy, so as long as they can keep Sandro happy, he has no reason to want to leave.
There's a lot of time between now and the summer, there's a lot that can change, and a good run of form will put Newcastle right back in the mix - although we don't see that run starting anytime soon, looking at our fixtures, but you never know.
Let's not worry too much about what may happen five months down the line and try and focus on the here and now ... which, let's be honest, isn't exactly a barrel of laughs either. Damn.
