Newcastle sweating as Sandro Tonali camp push for summer exit as Man Utd, Man City lead chase

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TEAMtalk

·19. März 2026

Newcastle sweating as Sandro Tonali camp push for summer exit as Man Utd, Man City lead chase

Newcastle United are becoming increasingly worried and frustrated about Sandro Tonali pushing for a summer move, TEAMtalk understands, as work goes on in the background over an exit and with the club growing fearful that another ‘Alexander Isak situation’ could unfold before their eyes.

Tonali joined Newcastle in €70m (£62.7m, $84m) from AC Milan in July 2023, making the player the most expensive Italian footballer of all time. Whilst his first season at the club was halted by a ban for breaches of betting offences, Tonali has since established himself as a cornerstone of Eddie Howe’s side and one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, racking up 104 appearances for the club.

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Whilst Tonali is personally not agitating to leave St James’ Park, his camp are doing the work in the background, and things have accelerated in recent weeks. As a result, Newcastle sources have confirmed they are ‘far from happy’ about the apparent agitation from the player’s side.

The player’s agent is talking regularly in the Italian media and they have told all their squad that there will be ‘ another Alexander Isak situation’ this summer.

Initially, Newcastle were informed that a move back to Italy was on Tonali’s mind and both Inter Milan and Juventus were contacted over a possible deal, and they were, and are, interested in bringing the 25-year-old star back to his homeland.

However, the overall asking price of Tonali – understood to be as high as £100m (€116m, $132m) is hugely problematic and beyond the reach of both Italian clubs.

With that, Tonali’s camp and intermediaries have been working hard on mapping out the lay of the land when it comes to a prospective move – and we are talking Europe’s elite.

Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich have been contacted. Both fully admire the 25-year-old and are keeping tabs on the situation.

However, the strongest interest comes from within England – those clubs recognise the progress made by Tonali during his stint at St James’ Park and TEAMtalk can confirm that Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United have ALL been spoken to this month.

And each of them is in the market for midfield reinforcements this summer….

Sandro Tonali in demand as sources name Man Utd, Man City as favourites

Arsenal, for their part, do remain interested but are not looking to buy a €100m option as they look to replace Christian Norgaard in their squad, and, as previously revealed, are instead looking at German star Leon Goretzka on a free.

They do like Tonali, though, and will be kept informed, meaning Arsenal have what is described as an active interest.

Whilst Chelsea and Liverpool have taken a ticket and are looking at the situation, we are told that the main interest has emerged from Manchester, with both City and United both keen and strongly considering concrete moves.

Both clubs are firmly in the market for at least one central midfielder, but both could very well sign two. They are already battling over Elliot Anderson, but Tonali is another player they could go head-to-head for.

City are bracing for the potential exit of Rodri, and with Bernardo Silva moving on at the end of his contract, in theory, signing just Anderson might not be enough.

Likewise, United are looking to replace Casemiro, but even with the re-emergence of Kobbie Mainoo, a departure of Manuel Ugarte will still leave them short.

Carlos Baleba is someone United have honed in on – but someone like Tonali could easily add to those options and he is a considered a very different option to the Brighton man.

Newcastle are now battling hard, and they know a £100million price-tag will not likely deter City or United.

However, Tonali is tied to St James’ Park potentially until 2030, making any exit far from straightforward.

The Magpies are already irritated by the volume of speculation around several first-team players.

TEAMtalk has been told that senior figures consider talk of a summer clear-out to be “nonsense.”

Bruno Guimaraes has a well-known release clause and is attracting attention, while Tino Livramento, Anthony Gordon, Nick Woltemade and Lewis Hall have all been linked with moves.

Despite this, Newcastle insist that while one major sale is possible, they will not sanction anything resembling a fire-sale – even with Champions League football out of reach for next season.