GdS: Chelsea offered players plus cash for Tonali but Newcastle’s bid was decisive

Newcastle United had to beat competition from Premier League rivals Chelsea to sign Sandro Tonali, and they even put forward some players in exchange.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) reports this morning, Tonali is one step away from becoming a Newcastle player after they sent their sporting director Dan Ashworth to Milan to complete the deal.

The Magpies are offering Tonali a six-year contract worth €8m net per season plus bonuses and the transfer fee is expected to be about €70m, a figure Milan deemed too good to turn down.

Tonali said yes to the move and barring a rather sensational turnaround, he will soon begin a new life in the Premier League in the north east of England.

There is some interesting background from the paper too. Up until 24-48 hours ago, Chelsea were very determined to sign the Italy international and made a cash offer plus a counterpart such as Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek or even Cesare Casadei.