Sandro Tonali has admitted that he has had to change himself a bit compared to how he was at AC Milan in order to fit in at his new club Newcastle United.
After the new of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara’s sackings, there was more difficult news for Milan fans to digest as Tonali – a boyhood fan of the club – was sold in a club-record deal. We tried to cover all angles regarding the move in a feature.
Yesterday Tonali made his first Premier League start and it could hardly have gone any better. Not only did Newcastle win 5-1 against Aston Villa to go top of the table for the time being, but the Italian opened his account with a volley after less than six minutes.
Tonali spoke to Sky after the game to reflect on what he described as a ‘dream’ debut in front of a sell-out crowd at St. James’ Park, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
“I’m in a different reality than Milan, you have to change everything, even yourself a bit. You don’t do the same things as before, you can’t find the friends you used to have at home,” he said.
“They are two very distant lives but there is always the professionalism, I never miss it. I felt the warmth of the fans, they cheered me on right from the start. And talking to the coach after the match, I understood how happy he was and how much he loves me.”
