Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has revealed that Sandro Tonali has a "high chance" of facing Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday as the club have yet to receive official confirmation of the midfielder's 10-month ban for illegal betting.
The president of the Italian Football Federation stated on Thursday that Tonali will be banned from football for 10 months for breaching betting rules and will serve a further eight-month period attending treatment sessions after negotiating a plea bargain with Italian prosecutors.
However, Sky Sports Italia claims that the 23-year-old's lengthy suspension is yet to be rubber-stamped by the Italian authorities and formal ratification could come at some stage on Friday afternoon.
Newcastle currently find themselves in a state of "limbo" according to Howe, as Tonali is available to travel with the squad and play in Saturday evening's Premier League clash with Wolves at Molineux, as things stand, having previously made substitute outings against Crystal Palace and Borussia Dortmund amid the ongoing investigation.
As soon as Tonali's ban is ratified, the midfielder will be ruled out for the rest of the 2023-24 season and cannot represent Italy should they qualify for Euro 2024, although he is free to train with Newcastle and play in friendly matches.
© Reuters
Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning about Tonali's situation, Howe said: "It's a difficult one because we haven't had official confirmation as a football club yet. We've heard the news and the speculation with the statement but we haven't had anything from the Italian authorities at the moment.
"We're in limbo at the moment waiting for that official confirmation to come through. There's a high chance again he could be available for us. A few things have to happen before the ban is imposed."
Howe added: "You saw from the Dortmund game (on Wednesday) he did very well. He's been bright and he's trained. The only way I can judge him is on that. He's been good around the group and the training ground. From how I can see, he's handling himself in the right way.
"I think I said in the press conference the other day, I can't work with hindsight. We didn't know this was even a possibility. There's a frustration that we won't have him now as I liked him as a footballer."
Howe has said that Newcastle as a club will ultimately decide whether they intend to pursue a legal matter, and he hopes that all parties involved can learn from the incident.
"There's always scope to improve what we're offering our players in terms of education," the Magpies boss continued. "There's pitfalls to being a professional footballer and if we can offer this guidance more, it will help avoid future scenarios.
© Reuters
"If he's banned for a length of time, he's going to have difficult moments during that timeframe. There will be a period where it's just training and no game and that's going to be difficult to adjust to. The communication between myself, the coaching staff and him is going to be hugely important.
"We need a squad robust enough to deal with these things even though you can't foresee these things.
"I'm slightly removed from everything because I'm focused on training and game preparation. Then you come back to hear another piece of news.
"I've mentally accepted the situation that I'm not going to know what's going on. I'll probably hear it further down the line. I've made peace with the fact that I'll be without Sandro for a long time."
Tonali joined Newcastle from AC Milan for a reported £55m in the summer and has since made 12 appearances across all competitions, scoring once on his Premier League debut in August.
The Magpies currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, four points behind the top four, and they are looking to return to winning ways after suffering a 1-0 home defeat to Dortmund in the Champions League group stage on Wednesday.
Oliver Thomas
