Many envisaged Sandro Tonali’s spell at AC Milan lasting for many years – possibly over 10 in fact – and it could well all be coming to a very abrupt end.
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La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall that Tonali’s idol Gennaro Gattuso had decided to leave Milan to put the disappointment of Istanbul behind him, but Adriano Galliani used strong tactics to keep him.
He locked his No.8 in the trophy room and only opened the door when the midfielder agreed to stay with the Rossoneri. However, there was no Galliani for Tonali and instead the club have not been able to resist the advances of Newcastle and their huge offer.
Of course it is a different game now and the fact Milan have received a huge bid for Tonali is simply the law of the market. However, the paper acknowledges how it hurts when a player leaves who was destined to become a legend.
We imagined that in a few years Sandro would be ‘the last flag bearer’ for everyone given his red and black faith, one which led him to reduce his salary so as to make his stay at the club permanent. When the Scudetto happened, those feelings were affirmed.
However, Milan cannot compete with a team that haven’t won the first division since 1927, the FA Cup since 1955 and whose last trophy (not counting the Intertoto and the Anglo-Italian Cup) dates back to the 1969 Fairs Cup.
In 2016-17, while Tonali completed his career in the Brescia youth sector, Newcastle were promoted to the Premier League from the second division. Alan Shearer and Shay Given are not Pippo Inzaghi, Kaka, Paolo Maldini and Andriy Shevchenko.
Having arrived at the club in a deal worth €35m from Brescia, a discount was agreed following a rough first season, but then in the Scudetto-winning campaign everything changed as he scored vital goals against Lazio and Verona which led Milan to the title.
A renewal of his contract with double the pay and a Champions League semi-final appearance would become the last chapters in Tonali’s time at Milan. Now, his only encounter with the club he loves could be thanks to the Champions League draw.
