Sandro Tonali speaks about life at Newcastle United and what blew him away about the Toon Army | NUFC Feed
4 minutes
Sandro Tonali spent the bulk of last season watching Newcastle United from the sidelines following his £55 million move from AC Milan.
Just 12 games into his Newcastle career Sandro Tonali was hit with a 10-month ban from football for breaching betting rules while playing in Italy. He was later found guilty of the same during his early days at Newcastle, but the FA allowed the Italian to serve his punishment for that concurrently with his 10-month ban, allowing him to return as scheduled.
It was a tough time for the young Italian and it led to many reports of unhappiness after his move to England, but the lad had just been slapped with a huge ban, he was hardly going to be buzzing.
Not only that, but Tonali admitted to being a gambling addict and had to go through a program to get help for that which won’t have been easy.
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Sandro Tonali – he bloody loves it here
It sounds to us like Newcastle has got under Sandro Tonali’s skin and he loves it here
Still, it was enough for journalists, particularly in Italy, to persist with rumours that Tonali wasn’t happy at Newcastle and despite both he and his agent speaking out to the contrary, those rumours still persist today.
Thankfully, Tonali has been speaking to beIN Sport (via The Chronicle) and it seems that the 24-year-old has nothing but good things to say about the Toon.
“When I had the ban for 10 months, I was still inside St James’ Park, and everything from the fans felt the same (levels of affection). It was the same as before the ban. Any player who had a 10-month ban if you have those fans it makes it easier and it felt quicker.
“Every game we have great fans and have 50,000 home fans every game whether it is raining or in the sun. Even if you lose three games, the stadium is always still full. It is amazing.
“In Newcastle, everything is different for the people because it is passionate.”
Sandro Tonali has spoken about the challenge of bagging Champions League football
As well as that, Tonali spoke about the fight for Champions League football and being part of history at the club.
“Now we have a difficult period. Every game is difficult.
“We need to be strong because the team has been doing well. After a trophy, players can go down for a couple of weeks, but we need to push to stay at the top.
“We have had a conversation within the team about five teams qualifying. We have one game in hand too. Every game now will be like a final. I’m happy to be part of history, to win something after 70 years, you aren’t a legend maybe but you are big player in the team.”
We understand that Tonali is hardly going to finish off his interview by saying, “For me, it doesn’t matter whether we get Champions League or not because I can’t wait to get the hell away from this club in the summer”, but nothing in what he has ever said in any interview has suggested to us that he wants to leave and this is another example.
