Newcastle United have a major Sandro Tonali problem.
The midfielder’s first season as a Newcastle United player was dominated by his suspension, with Sandro Tonali receiving a 10-month ban for breaching gambling regulations.
Season two was meant to be Tonali’s redemption on Tyneside, but the 24-year-old has ended up spending a lot of time on the bench.
Tonali has not been a consistent starter for Eddie Howe, with the £55million man coming on as a substitute in seven of his 15 appearances this season. In contrast, he has played pretty much every minute possible for Italy.
That has resulted in a very interesting story by Gazzetta dello Sport, who claim that Tonali is no longer happy at Newcastle United and wants to return to Italy.
Newcastle United fans react to Sandro Tonali claim
It is a concerning story ahead of the January transfer window, with Gazzetta dello Sport claiming that AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus are all keen. However, they add that the only way they would be able to afford Tonali is by agreeing a loan deal with Newcastle United.
There is surely no way that the Magpies will agree to those terms. In truth, they will likely have no intention of letting their number eight leave.
However, Newcastle fans have reacted to the Tonali story on X (formally known as Twitter), and a lot of them can understand his frustration.
For this fan, talk of Tonali wanting to leave Newcastle was always likely, writing: “Inevitable. Only 5 of the last Italian squad play their football outside of Serie A. Rare for Italians to play abroad for very long, if at all.”
A second Newcastle supporter added: “Can’t say I’m surprised given he’s not being selected despite playing well and having no defined position in the team.”
“When you’ve ran the game against the best team in the world then get dropped for Sean Longstaff the next game I wouldn’t be happy either,” remarked this Toon fan.
A fourth supporter commented: “No idea if it’s true. But I can’t say I’d be surprised if it was. I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that he’d end up back in Italy at some point & I thought it’d probably be a short and sweet stay here with us.”
“Wouldn’t be surprised if its true, Eddie Howe is completely wasting his talents,” wrote this fan, who has suggested that the blame lies at the manager’s door.
Finally, this member of the Toon Army summed up Tonali’s situation very well: “I wouldn’t be happy if I never got to start back to back games to be fair, but he isn’t going to be allowed to leave.”
Newcastle need to make Sandro Tonali happy
If the noises coming out Italy are true and Tonali really is unhappy at St James’ Park, it would be difficult to blame him.
He has been in and out of the team this season, with Howe unable to provide Tonali with a settled role in the side.
However, there have been signs of that changing as of late. The Toon boss has started to play him as a number six, with Howe very happy with Tonali’s recent form.
That was followed by Tonali dropping to the bench against Brentford, after he was forced off with cramp against Liverpool.
While Tonali probably felt he was fit to start at the Gtech Community Stadium, Howe was merely trying to protect someone who could become one of his most important players. That should be evident on Saturday when Tonali is hopefully recalled to the starting XI.
In truth, it is obvious what Howe must do with Tonali. He needs to play him regularly, as it is easy to see that he can be immensely valuable to this Newcastle team.
If that happens, perhaps talk of Tonali’s unhappiness will disappear.
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