Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Arsenal are interested in Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali.
Tonali’s name dominated deadline day speculation after reports claimed Arsenal had made a late approach following an injury to Mikel Merino.
Those claims were quickly disputed by Newcastle, but Romano now says the Italy international is one to watch ahead of the summer.
What happened with Tonali on deadline day?
During the final day of the window, Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg reported that Arsenal had made contact with Newcastle, sparking widespread reaction.
That was followed by reports stating Arsenal had not made an approach for Tonali to Newcastle and that the Magpies considered him not for sale.
David Ornstein then added further context, reporting that Tonali had been offered to Arsenal via intermediaries, with no direct club-to-club talks taking place.
Tonali’s agent, Giuseppe Riso, was quick to shut the story down.
“Newcastle won’t let Sandro leave in January,” Riso told Sky Sport Italy. “We haven’t spoken to Arsenal about this opportunity. Juventus? This isn’t the time to talk about it.”
He added, “It’s not even being discussed now. We will see around March about Sandro’s valuation, but only if Newcastle decide to open doors. He’s completely focused on Newcastle’s season.”
Will Arsenal sign Tonali in the summer?
While a January move was never realistic, Romano has now clarified Arsenal’s position going forward.
“There has been a lot of confusion around Sandro Tonali,” Romano said on his YouTube channel. “But his agent was very clear that the player was not offered to Arsenal.”
Romano stressed that any deadline day deal would have been impossible to complete.
“It would have been completely unrealistic to try to sign a player of Tonali’s level in the final 24 hours of the market,” he explained.
However, it’s certainly a situation to keep an eye on in the summer.
“For the summer,…
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