'We will see': Sandro Tonali's agent doesn't rule out summer exit after denying offering Newcastle United man to Arsenal
Newcastle United fans were led to believe that Arsenal were readying a deadline day swoop for Sandro Tonali on Monday after a report from Sky Sports Germany of all places gained traction early on deadline day.
Newcastle acted quickly to squash the rumours before a report later claimed that Sandro Tonali's agent had been in touch with Arsenal over his client's availability.
As the day went on, Giuseppe Riso, Tonali's agent, spoke out about the claims he'd been speaking about his future (via Metro):
"We never had any conversation with Arsenal. Newcastle were never going to let Tonali leave in January. There’s absolutely nothing into it. We didn’t even talk about it."
People's words are saying that Sandro is staying, but the subtext suggests quite the opposite
On Tuesday morning, Eddie Howe spoke to the media ahead of Wednesday's game at the Etihad Stadium, where Newcastle will take on Manchester City in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. Howe revealed that as far as he is aware, Tonali is happy at the club and there are no issues, but conceded that some things are out of his control.
It hardly instils confidence, and now Newcastle fans are bracing themselves for a difficult summer in which they could lose another huge star, and Giuseppe Riso hasn't done much to quell those fears with his comments.
"We will see around March about Sandro’s valuation, but only if Newcastle decide to open doors. He’s completely focused on Newcastle’s season now, it’s a nonsense topic."
Can Newcastle survive losing Sandro Tonali this summer?
Riso could have just said that Tonali's valuation doesn't matter because it's about whether Newcastle are open to selling him, there was no need to say that they'll know more in March about how much Newcastle will value him ahead of the summer window.
He may be denying approaching Arsenal, but his words certainly suggest that he's working on something.
The Metro have said that they expect Newcastle will ask at least £100 million for Tonali to leave, which seems about right. That rules out a move to Italy, but Premier League teams could still come to the table. Can we afford to lose Sandro if we get £100 million in return? We're not so sure.
