NEWCASTLE UNITED have made significant progress with their pursuit of Sandro Tonali – and have a medical team ready to fly to Romania in order to tie up the deal.
A frantic 24 hours of transfer activity has seen the Magpies move to the brink of completing the signing of Tonali from AC Milan, with the final agreement set to be worth around €70m once add-ons are factored in.
Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth has travelled to Italy to hold face-to-face discussions with the AC Milan hierarchy and Tonali’s representatives, and those talks are understood to have progressed smoothly.
While AC Milan’s owners were initially reluctant to sell Tonali, a 23-year-old midfielder who joined the club from Brescia in 2020, they have come to regard Newcastle’s offer as too good to turn down.
Crucially, they have already lined up a replacement for the Italy international in the form of Sassuolo’s Davide Frattesi, something that was regarded as essential before they sanctioned such a high-profile departure.
Tonali is currently in Romania where he is captaining Italy Under-21s at the European Championships, and while Italy open their campaign with a game against France this evening, Tonali has been keep abreast of the transfer developments.
Significantly, the midfielder has expressed a willingness to move to Newcastle, with his representatives now discussing the personal terms of a deal with Ashworth and the rest of Newcastle’s recruitment team.
Tonali is currently understood to earn around £75,000-a-week with AC Milan, and the Magpies are prepared to almost double his wages in order to persuade him to move to St James’ Park. Such a move would make him the club’s highest-paid player.
Talks remain ongoing, and there is a hope that a deal could be agreed and finalised before the weekend, with Newcastle mindful of the potential for other clubs to attempt to hijack their talks before an agreement is reached.
Tonali will have to pass a medical before he can be confirmed as a Newcastle player, and Italy Under-21 chiefs will be understandably reluctant to allow him to leave their Romanian training base during a major tournament.
However, Newcastle are prepared to send a medical delegation to Romania if the Italian authorities give them the green light to travel, and it is anticipated that Tonali will be given permission to undergo medical tests in between group games.
While the midfielder is currently skippering the Under-21s, he is a full Italian international with 14 senior caps under his belt, including appearances against England in both the Nations League and Euro 2024 qualifiers.
He is regarded as one of the brightest midfield prospects in Europe, and his signing would represent a major coup for Newcastle, who have been determined to strengthen their midfield options since the start of the summer.
The Magpies have held discussions over Dominik Szoboszlai, Nicolas Barella and James Maddison, but Tonali was always one of their key targets given his proven pedigree in both Serie A and the Champions League. The Italian was one of the key members of the AC Milan side that reached the Champions League semi-finals last season and finished fourth in the Italian top-flight.
A defensive midfielder who can also play further up the field, Tonali’s capture would significantly strengthen Eddie Howe’s options for his midfield three. With Tonali in the side, Howe would be able to play Bruno Guimaraes in a more advanced attacking-midfield role and would be less reliant on Sean Longstaff, who struggled with injury in the second half of last season.
Howe is hoping to make three or four signings this summer, with a left-back and a wide attacker other priority positions, and while Tonali’s capture would eat up a significant proportion of his summer budget, there would still be scope to complete further deals.
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