As part of the Sandro Tonali saga, it has been asked whether Newcastle United could claim compensation from AC Milan or not pay the remainder of the fee due if it emerges the Rosssoneri knew of his gambling.
Craig Hope of the Daily Mail is one of the journalists who has (repeatedly) asked if Milan knew anything about Tonali placing bets on games involving the Rossoneri and what the repercussions of that could be.
The Athletic have now addressed the claims that Newcastle could void the deal in some way, or that they are owed compensation, or might get out of paying the full €70m transfer fee agreed with Milan.
They state that there ‘is no suggestion that Milan knew anything about his alleged activities’, and so there is ‘little possibility of this being an option’ as it ‘depends on a very high burden of proof that they deliberately mischaracterised relevant details’.
“It would be a long shot but, theoretically, this is one option Newcastle have, and it may form the basis of legal action, as Newcastle may take the view that Milan fraudulently or negligently misrepresented all material facts,” says Dr Greg Ioannidis, attorney at law and professor of clinical sports law at Sheffield Hallam University.
“This is a fact/evidence-based exercise and it may require a high degree of compelling evidence and certainly something more than what an agent said and/or omitted to say.
“Newcastle must also, from the outset, make it absolutely clear that they had no knowledge of the player’s alleged betting activity and/or were not in a position where they ought to have had such knowledge.”
Another thing that has been brought up is whether Newcastle’s due diligence and checks might have identified the existence of a problem before they agreed to a record deal for an Italian player.
However, one source at a leading due-diligence firm said that while ‘they had been asked to look into managers and directors of football’, they had ‘never been asked to investigate the subject of a potential transfer’.
How much of the fee have Newcastle already paid and how much do they owe? The Magpies will pay Milan the fee for Tonali in instalments as per The Athletic, spreading the initial £55m fee over multiple seasons for FFP and cashflow reasons.
The report ends by saying that Newcastle will still be liable for the remainder of the fee unless something remarkable is uncovered, of which the majority is thought to be owed.
I’m wondering if our management can be subpoenaed for this and have to either testify or give statement 🤔
Also we we’re quite lucky in all this (so far)
What if Tonali confesses Milan knew. Can of worms is about to be opened up on this. This is not the last of it. Many more players are also going to be found out. Some may step forward willingly and others hide and hope to ride it out. But there seems to be lots of finger pointing. This investigation has clearly been going on for some time and it seems there is a strong possibility AC Milan we’re tipped off. It’s quite unfair frankly on Newcastle to shoulder this for a period that he was not playing for them and had no control over. It certainly should not count towards FFP.
We are extremely lucky here indeed but luck is part of sports, I am not going to feel guilty for this.
In fact if you see it as a serious injury, it’s not a very rare situation. It has happened to us as well: think about Conti for example, we got him, got seriously injured immediately and never played again. Nearly 100% loss.
Let’s be on the lucky side for once 🙂
Redondo!!
True. Conti and Caldara smh. It’s bad luck..let’s hope we don’t get implicated..quite the silence on our end so far
The other factor is Saudi Arabia using back channels to Italian Government to apply pressure. They won’t be happy about this. Saudi’s are not ones to mess about with when it comes to money. They have plenty weight they can throw around. Going to be interesting how this all plays out but you can be sure the skeletons will come out of the closet.
This is exactly what I said, when this story comes publicly. Of course that in a club knew about this. That is why he was sold urgently. Talented, next ACM legend… was sold just like that, in a few days.
He made the choice to leave, he discussed his exit with his agent and Newcastle while he was on international duty long before Milan even knew. Don’t just talk rubbish, rather do your research.
Do you really think, in this level of proffessonal football, that club does not know what their players are doing? Even, on much lower level, management “folow” what players do and how they behave privatelly. Do not be naive. They (management) knows what they eat, when they go to sleep, what they buy in store… Football is very serious bussines, big money is in game…
if you think like that then you should also think that other clubs know each of every single player they have.. like juve know fagioli habit, roma know zaniolo habit etcetera etcetera.. point is, clubs don’t have responsibility over players private life or activity
You should do your research. The negotiations with Milan started much earlier then when Tonali was with Italy. And his agent explained how the deal went. Newcastle contacted Milan, Milan contacted his agent who then presented the offer to Tonali and convinced him, I quote “it’s a deal good for both Tonali and the club”.
Yes, the negotiation went off the radar for few weeks as revealed by Newcastle themself.
Exactly my point. It was he and his agent that came forward with Newcastle offer and not that Milan went to them and offer him.
Good Luck proving Milan knew anything about it, especially since Newcastle came knocking on our door with the $$$. Not the other way around.
“Good Luck proving Milan knew anything about it, especially since Newcastle came knocking on our door with the $$$. Not the other way around.”
This. Milan doesn’t have to prove anything here. They’re innocent until proven guilty. And hearsay isn’t solid proof either.
What a long shot. He’s Newcastle’s employee so that’s their issue.
Dunno what some of this “called themself fans” want, you guys are ridiculous, we should support the club or just stfu rather than talking sh1t and made up a story that could give negative effect to the club