Not Isak!! Eddie Howe Reveals Sandro Tonali’s Situation After Arsenal rumours

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe believes the club will not see a repeat of the Alexander Isak transfer saga after holding deadline-day talks with Sandro Tonali.

Howe spoke to the 25-year-old Italy international on Monday amid reports that the midfielder had been “offered” to Premier League leaders Arsenal as the winter window drew to a close.

Newcastle insisted privately that there had been no contact with the Gunners and, having spent last summer trying to keep Isak before reluctantly accepting a £130 million ($178m) offer from Liverpool, they do not want to countenance a repeat over Tonali.

Asked if he was concerned that Monday was the start of a campaign to unsettle Tonali, Howe said: “I don’t think so, but lots of things happen without my knowledge.

“As far as I’m aware, we’ve got a player that’s an outstanding footballer, an outstanding person. He’s very happy here, he’s got a great relationship with me, his team-mates, he seems really, really happy within himself, so that would surprise me.

“But our best players will always be attracting glances from other clubs, that’s just the reality of football. We want to keep the group together, we want to keep being progressive and of course Sandro plays a part in that, trying to hit his best levels and play as well as he can to help the team.

“All-encompassed, I don’t see an issue, but as I say, I’m not in control of everything.”

Sandro Tonali during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD8 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle. (Photo by George Wood – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

The speculation over Tonali prompted Howe to seek out the player for clarification.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg trip to Manchester City, Howe said: “Sandro’s absolutely fine. I had discussions with Sandro yesterday.

“He’s absolutely focused on the here, the now, playing for us. His only focus, talking to him yesterday, was Manchester City and trying to win that game, so there’s absolutely no issue with Sandro himself and he’s very happy and he’s committed.

“I find it difficult to talk about things that I don’t know too much about. I can only talk about Sandro as the person and the player and his mindset here and now, having discussed things with him yesterday, and he’s absolutely fine.”

Tonali is likely to be in the starting eleven as Newcastle aim to overcome a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Manchester City.