Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has responded to shock claims that Real Madrid could try to prise Sandro Tonali away from St James' Park in 2025.
A recent report from Milan Live - via TEAMTalk - claimed that Carlo Ancelotti was eyeing a move for the Italian as a successor to Toni Kroos, who retired from professional football after Euro 2024.
Tonali became Newcastle's second-most expensive signing of all time when he joined in a €64m (£53.3m) deal from AC Milan last year, but his first season at St James' Park was curtailed by a 10-month betting ban.
The midfielder returned to competitive action at the end of August, and he has quickly forced his way back into Eddie Howe's starting XI, featuring from the off in each of their last three Premier League matches.
Tonali is expected to earn his fourth successive top-flight start when the Magpies take on Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, and Real's supposed interest in the 24-year-old was put to Howe before the trip to West London.
Howe 'not contemplating' Tonali sale to Real Madrid
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Milan Live also reported that Newcastle would be willing to part ways with Tonali for around £41.5m, which would represent a loss on the £53.3m that they paid for him last year, and his former team AC Milan would be entitled to 10% of any future transfer fee thanks to a sell-on clause.
Howe has delivered a crushing blow to Real's chances of a deal, though, telling journalists: "That one is news to me. It is not something I am contemplating. I am trying to build Sandro into the team after his ban," as quoted by Chronicle Live.
"He has performed really well the last few games. I have been really pleased with how he is finding his feet in the team. He is building new relationships. It is not just the player coming into the team it is also the players around Sandro and how those relationships start to form. I have been pleased how they have.
"He has been very good psychologically, his attitude has been excellent and I am really hopeful for the future of him in our team. We have held a lot of individual meetings with him. A lot of tactical reviews.
"It is one thing reviewing his training performances but that is totally different from reviewing his match performances and find ways of taking his game to another level. It is a lot easier when a player is in the team. I have pleased the way he has come back from his ban. The international games have helped him and he has made a good transition back into the team."
Newcastle keeping Sandro Tonali is a no-brainer
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Real Madrid taking a liking to your players means that you are doing something right, and Newcastle have evidently re-integrated Tonali back into the first team as best they can following his off-field problems.
The 24-year-old has not been able to turn Newcastle's ailing domestic fortunes around, but he has immediately won the faith of Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti, who has started him in all four of the Azzurri's Nations League games so far this term.
Tonali has earned major plaudits for his performances in an Italy shirt, setting up goals in victories over France and Israel in the past two months, and Howe has no doubt that he will soon have the same level of impact for Newcastle.
Giving up on a £53.3m investment after just one-and-a-half disrupted seasons would be ludicrous - especially for the cheaper fee that has been mooted by Italian media - and Tonali still has four years left to run on his contract at St James' Park.
With Anthony Gordon also penning a new deal and Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes so far resisting interest from elsewhere, Howe and the backroom team have done brilliantly to keep the squad together, but now is the time to start delivering on the pitch.
