Sandro Tonali

Sandro Tonali (born 8 May 2000) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Italy national team.

He is currently banned from all competitive footballing activities until 27 August 2024 for gambling offences.

Tonali made his professional debut for Brescia Calcio on 26 August 2017, aged 17, coming on as a substitute in the Serie B away match lost 2–1 against Avellino.

He began his professional career at Brescia, winning Serie B in 2018–19.

A year later he moved to Milan, initially on loan.

He played 130 total games for Milan, and won Serie A in 2021–22.

In 2023 he signed for Newcastle for a reported fee of €70 million, making him the most expensive Italian footballer of all time.

On 28 April 2018 he scored his first professional career goal, in a 4–2 defeat against Salernitana in Serie B. He obtained 19 league appearances in total during his first season as a professional player, scoring two goals and providing two assists during the 2017–18 Serie B season.

The following season, Tonali won the Serie B title with Brescia, and achieved promotion to Serie A, featuring as a starter for the club throughout the entire 2018–19 season.

With the Italy U19 he took part in the 2018 European Under-19 Championship, reaching the final of the tournament, where Italy lost 4–3 after extra time against Portugal.

He made his Serie A debut on 25 August 2019, aged 19, in a 1–0 away win against Cagliari.

On 29 September, he assisted Mario Balotelli's goal from a corner kick in a 2–1 away loss to Napoli; he also scored a goal during the match with a powerful shot from outside the area, which was disallowed by VAR, however, for a foul by Brescia's Dimitri Bisoli on Napoli's Nikola Maksimović.

He scored his first Serie A goal on 26 October, netting a long-range free kick into the top corner from the left flank, which was the opening goal in an eventual 3–1 away defeat to Genoa.

He made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 21 March 2019, in a 0–0 friendly draw against Austria in Trieste.

He took part in the 2019 European Under-21 Championship.

On 9 September 2020, Tonali joined AC Milan, on a season-long loan for €10 million with an option to buy for €15 million, plus bonuses worth €10 million.

The player will earn a yearly wage of €2 million for five years.

Three days later, he made his non-competitive debut in a friendly at Milanello against his previous club.

Tonali made his competitive debut for Milan on 17 September 2020, coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute in a 2–0 victory against Shamrock Rovers FC in the second round of Europa League qualifying.

He made his Serie A debut for Milan on 21 September 2020, coming off the bench in the 77th minute in a 2–0 victory over Bologna FC 1909 at the San Siro.

Tonali finished the season with 37 appearances, 23 of those in the starting eleven.

On 8 July 2021, Milan officially purchased Tonali's rights from Brescia and he signed a five-year contract with the club.

He took a pay-cut to secure his childhood dream move to Milan and was praised by the fans on social media for this gesture.

Tonali scored his first goal with Milan's shirt on 29 August 2021 against Cagliari, a free kick that opened the scoresheet in eventual 4–1 win.

On 3 October at Gewiss Stadium against Atalanta, Tonali dispossessed the ball from Remo Freuler and ran to the opponents box to score the second goal in eventual 3–2 victory for Milan.

On 25 February 2022, Tonali assisted Rafael Leão's goal against Udinese, becoming the youngest midfielder to have scored more than one goal (two) and delivered more than one assist (two) in Serie A that season.

On 24 April as the match against Lazio was heading to 1–1 draw, Tonali scored the winner in the stoppage time, securing the lead for his team in Serie A table.

On 8 May 2022, his 22nd birthday, Tonali scored an equalizing and a winning goal in the 3–1 away Serie A victory against Hellas Verona.

The comeback victory brought Milan back on top of the Serie A following Inter's 48-hour stay there in a close championship race.

Tonali is also the youngest midfielder to have scored five or more goals in Serie A that season (and the second-youngest among all players, older only than Bologna's Aaron Hickey).

After 3–0 away win against Sassuolo on 22 May, Milan secured their first Scudetto in 11 years, In total, Tonali played 36 games in the campaign, scoring 5 goals and providing 3 assists.

Tonali's performance that season brought the attention and praise of renowned Italian football pundits, the likes of Paolo Di Canio, Roberto Donadoni and Fabio Capello, the latter went on to state that Tonali would have found a place in even the greatest of Milan's generation in the past.

On 3 July 2023, Premier League club Newcastle United announced the signing of Tonali on a five-year contract, for an undisclosed fee.

Reported to be around €70 million, this made Tonali the most expensive Italian player of all time.

On 18 July, he made his debut for Newcastle in Allan McGregor's testimonial match against Rangers.

On 12 August, he scored the opening goal on his Premier League debut in a 5–1 win over Aston Villa.

On 18 October 2023, Newcastle announced Tonali was being investigated by the Italian Prosecutor's Office and the Italian Football Federation in relation to alleged illegal betting activity.

On 26 October, he was banned from playing football for 10 months for breaching Italian betting regulations.

This included a further eight months in gambling rehabilitation.

This meant he would miss the rest of the season and UEFA Euro 2024.