Chelsea have also entered the race to sign AC Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali following Newcastle United’s reported €50million (£43million) bid.
If there’s one thing Chelsea don’t need any more of, it’s midfielders, yet Gazzetta dello Sport has the Blues linked with an interest in Sandro Tonali amid reports of Newcastle making their move for the 23-year-old.
The Italian paper also claim that Chelsea could use Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Christian Pulisic – both of whom have ironically been linked to Newcastle – as sweeteners for the deal as they know Milan are keen on both players.
Milan have rejected Newcastle’s initial bid for Tonali
Why Newcastle aren’t allowed to have nice things, I’m not sure, but I suppose it was inevitable that at least one other Premier League club would end up showing an interest in a player of Tonali’s ‘incredible‘ talents.
You don’t get likened to Andrea Pirlo and then go about your business under the radar.
As the day has gone on reports are coming out saying Newcastle’s initial bid has been rejected with Milan saying it will take an offer of £73million to start negotiations.
That’s quite a jump up from where Newcastle started, but I’m sure the board were expecting some pushback on price as there’s no way they could possibly have thought they’d get such a high-profile player for such a low figure.
The Magpies could send Allan Saint-Maximin the other way
Equally, I’m sure Milan have gone high with their demands knowing full well that his true value lies somewhere in the middle of that £30million disparity.
One thing that wasn’t mentioned in the Gazzetta report is that Newcastle also have a player Milan are keen on. Allan Saint-Maximin has been linked with Milan for a while now and I can definitely see a world where Newcastle offer Maxi as part of the deal to reduce their outlay.
There’s still a long way to go with this one, but it’s looking good so far.
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