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Manchester United’s interest in Sandro Tonali is clear.

Whether they are prepared to pay a British record fee and attempt to broker a deal with Newcastle United who want to hold on to their best players this summer is not. Not yet, anyway.

The Red Devils want to overhaul their midfield and there is a strong chance, with Casemiro leaving at the end of the season, that two new midfielders could be brought in to elevate the quality levels in a long-neglected area of the squad.

Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson has long been United’s first choice, but The i Paper understands he currently prefers a move to Manchester City. Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, another top pick, is high on Liverpool’s agenda, too. Brighton’s Carlos Baleba also remains an option.

The other name who has rocketed up United’s wishlist, alongside the long-admired aforementioned trio, is Tonali.

Is a move for Tonali plausible?

Newcastle would command a fee “in excess” of £100m if they decided to cash in on Tonali, who the Magpies believe belongs in the top tier of midfielders across the league.

It remains a big if. Newcastle do not want to lose him and also do not want to be dragged into the latest round of stories surrounding his future. Tonali – who gave a searingly honest response when The i Paper asked him last year about his ambitions for the future – has been conspicious by his absence in Champions League press conferences and mixed zones in recent months.

Indeed there has been a degree of irritation at Newcastle at the noise around Tonali but also some encouragement at the way the Italy international has responded. He has delivered some of his best performances since scrutiny over his future has intensified in the wake of stories last month that he had been offered to Arsenal.

Tonali is viewed internally as honest and open and he is grateful to Newcastle for the way they handled his long suspension for gambling-related offences shortly after his £52m move from AC Milan. He also signed a contract until 2029 during that ban that did not include a release clause, which means Newcastle retain control in any summer transfer scramble.

How prepared are Newcastle for a possible exit?

But a combination of interest in him, the player’s ambition to challenge for top honours and Newcastle’s own hopes of European football next season being in the balance mean that Manchester United might view him as an attainable target. Some in the world of recruitment believe he is open to overtures from elsewhere.

The i Paper understands that Chelsea are another Premier League club who are monitoring his situation.

Newcastle are currently scouting multiple midfielder targets, with interest in Lamine Camara of Monaco intensifying. Sources in France have indicated that Djaoui Cisse, of Rennes, is another who has been watched.

But with doubts about Joe Willock’s future, Newcastle know they are likely to have to move for at least one midfielder this summer regardless of what happens with Tonali. The intention internally is clear: to compete with Manchester United in the market rather than hand over one of their star players to them.

Are there alternatives for Manchester United?

Premier League knowhow is key for United co-owner Ineos when making big-money signings.

The effect Bryan Mbuemo and Matheus Cunha have had on the club’s mini-revival under Michael Carrick is key to that thinking.

There are plenty of talented young midfielders on United’s list alongside Tonali – Sevilla’s Lucien Agoume being another top target – but for the high-profile arrivals, Premier League pedigree is the preferred option.

Arsenal are also understood to be keeping tabs on Tonali, only adding to the concerns over a long pursuit. For the right player, however, United’s hierarchy are ready to do battle.

What appeals about Tonali is the ground he covers and the energy he can bring to United’s midfield. Kobbie Mainoo has slotted back into Premier League life seamlessly after Ruben Amorim’s departure, but he is not the fast-breaking, box-to-box midfielder Tonali can be. The pair could work in tandem perfectly, or even as two of a midfield three.

The fee could be a stumbling block for United, given Tonali could cost upwards of £100m. The sales of Marcus Rashford to Barcelona and Rasmus Hojlund to Napoli after their season-long loans have finished, along with Manuel Ugarte – the Uruguayan is attracting interest from Turkey – could help boost their spending power.

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It cannot have been lost on Liverpool supporters that their last Anfield meeting with Tottenham Hotspur contrasted so sharply with the latest on Sunday.

Tottenham were also the visitors on 27 April of last year when, in glorious sunshine, the Reds clinched the Premier League title with a 5-1 win that seemed to usher in a new era of glory despite the loss of Jurgen Klopp.

Yet, just shy of 11 months later – and fittingly in the wind and hail – the same fans were watching their team held to a 1-1 draw by a relegation-threatened Spurs missing 13 first-team stars.

So, how have things under Arne Slot gone so badly wrong so quickly? Here are the key reasons for the champions’ slump.

Inability to deal with directness

The simplicity of Tottenham’s equaliser would have been shocking were it not such a familiar sight this season.

A hopeful lump forward from the goalkeeper not dealt with, a second ball being claimed by the opposition, and a simple finishing resulting from there – this description fits far too many of the goals Liverpool have conceded since August.

IT'S LEVEL!

Richarlison scores in the 90th minute pic.twitter.com/XETHk3ITFI

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 15, 2026

More than most, they have seemed to be caught out by the Premier League-wide pivot toward physicality and directness that has defined the campaign, but in truth these issues were flagged during poor showings against Newcastle and Everton late last season.

Given how long this problem has existed, it is damning of Slot that, despite possessing the most aerially dominant centre-back in the division in Virgil van Dijk, he has still not found a solution to that particular problem.

Conceding late goals

Of course, it wasn’t just the manner of Richarlison’s strike that felt routine, but also the timing.

This was the eighth goal Liverpool have conceded in the 90th minute or later this season in the Premier League, and each of them has been result-altering.

Had they held on in those games, Slot’s men would be 11 points better off, just one behind second-placed Manchester City.

Instead, they are well adrift and locked in a battle for Champions League qualification, rather than the title.

Slot often suggests that poor luck is a factor but, if you consistently leave games in the balance, sometimes it will come back to bite you.

Question marks over training regime

These late collapses in games have led many to question whether Liverpool are fit enough for the rigours of a Premier League campaign, and that point of view is not without merit.

Tottenham ran 9km further than their hosts last weekend, and that is part of a wider pattern given the Reds have been outrun in the vast majority of their league games so far this season.

Slot’s penchant for giving players days off worked well last season as a lower rate of muscle injury incidence allowed for a consistency of selection that was foundational to winning the title.

But it has seemed like the further away from Klopp’s famously gruelling conditioning they have got, the less fit and sharp the squad has become due to this lack of time on the training pitch.

That has not only resulted in the players’ inability to match the opposition’s workrate, but also an absence of sharpness in their use of the ball.

Misuse of the squad

Even if Liverpool opt for a change of manager this summer, there is no doubt that their half-finished squad will still require serious surgery.

But there remains a feeling that, while he hasn’t quite been given the tools to win the title this term, Slot has misused what he has at his disposal.

For example, the Dutchman has rightly been criticised for his loyalty to the woefully out-of-form Alexis Mac Allister, regular use of Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back, and failure to find Florian Wirtz’s best role – and these are just a selection of the many issues.

What’s more, in each of those cases, he has had an alternative to turn to but has completely ignored it in favour of a plan that simply isn’t working.

That stubbornness has cost Liverpool, resulting in little improvement being seen over the course of a wretched campaign.

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The case was as “serious as it gets”, dealing with off-the-books payments, serial title-winners and deliberate dishonesty.

Where have you heard that before? While there are significant differences between Chelsea’s secret payments case, which has earned them a £10m record fine from the Premier League, and Manchester City’s looming “115” verdict, some experts believe Monday’s judgements paves the way for a realistic scenario where the latter is punished by fines and a transfer ban rather than a whopping points deduction if they’re found guilty.

“It [potentially] gives the Premier League a little bit of a problem when it comes to future cases because [other clubs] will refer to this in terms of how to deal with sanctions,” says Stefan Borson, football finance expert and Head of Sport at law firm McCarthy Denning.

He believes Chelsea have had a “brilliant result” in avoiding the sporting sanctions slapped on Everton and Nottingham Forest for their breaches of Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire agrees. “Given that City have been charged with off-book payments as part of the 115 [charges] you would imagine they would be pleased with this verdict,” he told The i Paper.

It is 15 months since an independent commission into the City case concluded and there remains no indication that a verdict on multiple charges related to breaches of financial fair play rules is close. Few now expect it before the end of the current season.

But seasoned experts in football governance believe there is reason for City cheer in the way Chelsea have been dealt with for making £47m of secret payments to third parties and unregistered agents in the years between 2011 and 2018.

The Blues’ new ownership self-reported the offence, avoiding any points deduction despite what analysts view as transgressions that are “as serious as they come”.

Manchester City have had lurid headlines about relegation, a possible 60-point deduction and even have titles taken from them – so a big fine and transfer ban would feel like a let-off if the charges are found to be proven. The club have always denied wrongdoing.

“They are different situations. I don’t think City would be able to argue, with a straight face, for exceptional cooperation mitigation so that is an immediate differentiator,” Mr Borson says.

“But this case does undermine the seriousness of concealment and deliberate acts when it comes to financial matters of football clubs, so long as there is no consequential breaching of PSR.

“So City will be able to at least construct an argument for why a big points deduction is not a starting point in their case if they are found guilty. Based on this case they could argue the starting point should be a fine if only some of the allegations are proven.”

One Premier League executive agreed, telling The i Paper that the punishment felt “lenient”.

The view of sources close to the Premier League is that comparing the Chelsea case to that of Everton or Nottingham Forest’s PSR breach – or City’s looming charges – is like “comparing oranges and apples”.

This was a sanction hearing – where wrongdoing was admitted by Chelsea – rather than an independent commission like the one City went through. Chelsea’s new ownership group disclosed offences that would never have been uncovered without their “extraordinary cooperation”.

And the Premier League has stressed that even with the secret payments taken into account, the Blues would not have breached PSR in any of the years under scrutiny.

At the very least, though, the Chelsea case has given those eagerly awaiting the City verdict food for thought.

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My Sporting Life is The i Paper’s look behind the curtain at what drives sports stars to greatness. This week we speak to new Cesena manager and legendary England, Chelsea and Arsenal left-back Ashley Cole about his life growing up, his coaching ambitions and his memories of the Invincibles.

Life wasn’t easy growing up

I’m from Bow. We didn’t have grass pitches, it was concrete cages. I grew up with Ledley King, literally across the road from me, Jlloyd Samuel, rest his soul. and I hung around with them boys. We used to muck around and laugh about in the cage that one day we would play against each other or play for England together – and me and Ledley did that.

Growing up in where I did, it creates a character. Life wasn’t easy, single parent family, the house was full of love but the minute you walk out your door, it is a kind of dog-eat-dog world. You couldn’t be seen as weak and fragile and it did build some character and resilience in me. I’ll never begrudge that kind of upbringing but it was a tough place to grow up and a tough place to live – but it seems to find these diamonds in the rough that produces talented Premier League players.

I used to say some trophies were my ‘favourite’ just to piss people off

I’ve grown a lot so I really can’t pick one. Because there was my first trophy for Arsenal, my boyhood club, I supported them and my dream was to play for them. Then you win your first title, something I never ever dreamed of. Then the Champions League, that was iconic to me growing up. Then to be the record-holder of FA Cups. I’m lucky I can say that – I don’t want to be big-headed, but is it the FA Cup, Champions League, Premier League? I’m grateful for the career I had.

The best player I played with

Thierry Henry. I’m not saying it lightly. I came into an Arsenal team that was full of stars, but some of the stuff I saw on the training pitch with him was just incredible. Not just the amazing player he was, but as a great person – that counts for a lot. I’ve been lucky to play with Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, David Seaman. They did a lot for me. Tony Adams, Martin Keown also added to that character that I had from my upbringing – when I played for Arsenal I needed people like that to lead me.

Arsene Wenger would let me make mistakes

I don’t think I would have played under any other manager in the Premier League, I was 18, 19, making a lot of mistakes in games but he continued to select me. I don’t know if another manager would have had that belief in me. Then I went to Jose Mourinho, and he gave me a different dynamic and feeling in football, he really got my hunger back and a more tactical understanding, which I think has developed me now into a different type of coach. Carlo Ancelotti was great for me too – there was a lot of stuff off the field going on and he really made me feel safe and secure. I thought I played my best football under him.

I’m still in the Invincibles group chat

We’re all in a WhatsApp group with David Dein, Mr Wenger, all the players. I meet Thierry not a lot, but we’re always talking about football. I’ve had my own life and our family so I don’t get much time to interact with them but there were moments in my life when I needed them.

What I’ll be like as a manager

I’m a hybrid of old school but understanding the new generation and understanding the person before the player. I take that from Carlo [Ancelotti], he wanted to know how I was feeling as a person before he selected me and expected me to perform. I still want to develop the person, develop the player, and make players that are capable and have belief they can win.

I’m always authentic. I don’t think I can change – I’m a boy from east London, didn’t have a great education but I have lived a lot. It’s just trying to gain the respect and belief from players that I know what I’m doing by my experiences and the detail of the way I coach. I have the ability to mould myself into different kinds of people.

I’m ready to be a No 1 now

I did seven years of apprenticeship. I went to the under-15s at Chelsea and tried to understand my strengths, what are my weaknesses as a coach? Am I affecting and influencing players enough where I can give back to the sport? I’ve worked at Chelsea, Everton, England U21s for five years, worked with the senior team. I feel I’ve done enough groundwork.

I wouldn’t change anything about my career

Whatever club I played for, I wore the badge and played my heart out. Not anyone’s life is perfect, the decisions I made to go left or right, things happen. Shit happens. Looking back, I’m very happily looking in the mirror.

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Crystal Palace is a unique club, rooted in one specific type of player: mavericks. Any generation of Palace supporters would say that is why they love watching them.

From Vince Hilaire to Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie, Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze – not forgetting John Salako – Palace have long fielded attackers who get onlookers on their feet.

Yet that unpredictability has evaporated in Oliver Glasner’s final season, leaving supporters bored as exhausted groans and boos become a matchday staple.

Glasner believes the criticism, after Palace fans enjoyed a taste of success with silverware last season, is unfair. Expectations have risen unrealistically, he argues, and Palace must remember their place in the pecking order.

But that is not why supporters are fed up. What hurts most is not recognising their team. There is little flair, no attacker brimming with the confidence to beat a man. The absence of magic, in favour of functionality, does not live up to the elation Palace fans expect from their frontline. The club’s identity has been blurred.

Palace failed to muster a shot on target in the goalless draw with Leeds United, who played 45 minutes with 10 men on Sunday. There was little invention and limited progressive passing. Palace had plenty of possession – too many sideways passes – but no means to score a goal.

This has been the story of the season at Selhurst Park, with the Eagles scoring just 14 goals in 15 home games. Supporters rock up expecting a boring game, and invariably, they get one.

“Do you know what you’re talking about?” Glasner quipped when asked whether his team lacked a maverick.

“Have you watched how many goals Crystal Palace have scored in the Premier League? Do you know it? I know it. 57 in our first season was by far the best. Usually, they scored between 35 and 45.”

This season, Palace have scored 33 goals in 30 games – hiding behind last season’s numbers seemed odd when Glasner had already acknowledged that Palace have not been good enough in front of goal. Of course, last season Palace also had Eze at their disposal.

What followed were strange remarks about Palace’s tradition of rousing crowd-pleasers in attack, with Glasner demonstrating his inability to understand the identity of the football club.

“I’m sitting here because Crystal Palace were playing against relegation,” Glasner added. “Roy Hodgson was sitting here because the year before, Crystal Palace were playing against relegation. If all these top stars you are talking about have been here, why are they always playing against relegation?”

“I always respect the opinion of the fans. You should know much better than me: this is still one of the best seasons in Crystal Palace’s history. It’s Crystal Palace, we have to accept who we are and where we are. We know we can be very competitive. We are in a very good position in the Premier League. We are close to the top 10. We’re playing European football. We know we have topics to improve, but I don’t like that everybody is so critical.”

Palace fans don’t expect their team to win every game or even consistently play scintillating football, but they want to know that when they get the ball to one of their attackers, they are going to be entertained.

Ismaila Sarr can be exciting to watch, but more often than not, it is in games where he has space to run in behind. Yeremy Pino and Brennan Johnson have both shown little signs of promise, while Evann Guessand is more Palace coded with an element of chaos and has the capability of taking a man on.

It is a one-dimensional front line that lacks spontaneity, and that is the aggravation. Whenever Palace play a defensively disciplined side, particularly a low-block, they do not have the innovators required to unlock backlines.

Perhaps that is a theme of modern football, with functionality preferred, but Palace are a club that thrives off unpredictability. Attendances have dropped off in Palace’s last two home games, and that is not a surprise – watching them has become a chore.

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Newcastle United have the Premier League’s most in-form central midfielder – and he is not the one whose name is at the top of many of their rivals’ summer shopping lists.

While Sandro Tonali’s form has been tidy, the increasingly impressive Jacob Ramsey is the reason for belief ahead of the biggest week of Newcastle’s season. Having tilted the engine room battle in their favour in the first leg last week, Ramsey’s energy and poise could be the perfect platform for the lightning transitions that will be needed for Newcastle to progress against Barcelona.

It is a big ask – quite possibly the biggest in their history. But in seven days we have seen how Eddie Howe’s side have matured for their European adventures. Having pressed Barcelona almost into submission at St James’ Park in a trademark Howe home performance, Newcastle then delivered a classic away day win at Chelsea over the weekend. It is why the Nou Camp should not hold any fear.

Key to their hopes is Ramsey, who is not really being spoken about much outside of Tyneside.

Tonali is: a £100m plus move to Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Real Madrid has been on the agenda since those links to Arsenal on February’s transfer deadline day. That has irked Newcastle – with the club pulling up the drawbridge when it comes to talking about Tonali, for fear of being drawn into another Alexander Isak saga – but it has allowed Ramsey’s stellar form to pass under the radar.

And he has been good. Really, really impressive, in fact, as part of a midfield that has started to flex its muscles in big games. Ramsey has been man of the match against Manchester United, been a contender for those honours against Barcelona and probably shared the title with Malick Thiaw at Stamford Bridge.

It is his speed of thought and quick breaks that have transformed Newcastle of late. After a run of injury misfortune and an inability to displace Bruno Guimaraes, Tonali and Joelinton, he is now getting a run and looks like he understands what it takes to play in Howe’s system.

We saw similar with Anthony Gordon, who is 10 times the player he was when Newcastle signed him from Everton (and probably worth about three times as much). It can take time and there was a need for patience with Ramsey, whose initial performances in black and white were much of a muchness.

Pulled into the team during their worst run – with Premier League form on the brink – it would have been easy to sink. But, faced with a win-or-bust trip to Tottenham Hotspur last month, he began a run in the team that has revived the campaign.

That optimism will be tested this week. Barcelona and Sunderland have the potential to make or break the campaign: win both and suddenly the season opens up. Struggle in both (especially the latter) and Howe is back under pressure and Ramsey’s form becomes a footnote.

But confidence and momentum are back. And a large part of the reason for that is the outstanding Ramsey.

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In the pyramid of managers, quite where Unai Emery sits is a question Manchester United could be asking themselves.

Somehow both coveted and underrated, the Spaniard is difficult to categorise. He is a four-time Europa League winner who has helped Villarreal and now Aston Villa punch above their weight, and yet the doubts from spells at Paris-Saint Germain and Arsenal prevail.

Moreso given recent links to both United and Real Madrid, two clubs in limbo after sacking two of Europe’s brightest thinkers – at the time of hiring – in Ruben Amorim and Xabi Alonso.

If the answer is not Michael Carrick or Alvaro Arbeloa, brought in mid-season at United and Real respectively, then is the answer Emery instead? That is looking increasingly unlikely given Villa’s recent dip.

Villa are still in the Champions League places but boast relegation form, sitting 18th for the last 10 games, and while they may yet limp over the line given Chelsea and Liverpool’s own struggles, Sunday’s lacklustre defeat to United made it three straight defeats in the league for the first time since February 2023.

This run has slowly extinguished belief at Villa Park, where fans had been dreaming of an unlikely title push in December but are now left hoping there is enough in the tank to keep progressing in the Emery’s favourite tournament: the Europa League.

A victorious night in Istanbul come May is what Villa supporters crave – it would be a first major trophy since 1996 – but their frustration is simmering to the point of boiling over with Emery’s team selections.

This unrelenting stubbornness has won Emery plaudits in the past but is proving a double-edged sword, as when he sticks with out-of-form players – currently Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia, among others – but it doesn’t pay off, this persistence only reads as a weakness.

United were even the latest benefactors. Watkins toiled up front when already starved of time on the ball, which pinged off him like Flubber, and Villa only briefly sputtered into gear after going a goal down – equalising before conceding twice.

The 3-1 defeat came after Emery was tipped for the permanent United role by Jamie Carragher, whose Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville ranked the Villa boss second among Premier League coaches behind Pep Guardiola.

Neville added though that he did not believe the “exceptional” Emery would take the reins at Old Trafford if United qualify for the Champions League.

Match that with United leapfrogging Villa into third and Emery’s older reputation is coming back to haunt him.

His team’s tail off, is one point made. The numbers suggest that is not always the case, as Villa ended last season with eight wins from their last 10, but more often than not Emery sides do end campaigns poorly.

Injuries make it more complicated than a mere “bottle” for Emery at Villa this season, but whether he has the mettle for the United role is another question.

At PSG, he may have won the league but he is remembered there for relinquishing a 4-0 first-leg lead against Barcelona in the Champions League, losing the second leg 6-1.

Meanwhile his only full Arsenal season showed glimpses of promise – including a 14-game unbeaten run in the league – before ending with four defeats in the last seven league games and 4-1 loss to Chelsea in the Europa League final. They also lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup that season.

It therefore feels for every Europa League trophy in his cabinet there is a reason to put off United, who have rarely succumbed to his charms.

Emery has faced the Red Devils more than any other English club but has won just four of those 14 meetings, drawing four and losing 10.

The most recent of those defeats was a ninth futile stab at trying to win at Old Trafford, meaning if he has ever truly auditioned for this role than he has failed every time.

He is an elite coach and brilliant tactician, of that there is no doubt, but is he the world-class, pyramid-topping manager United would love to appoint if they don’t turn to Carrick? Not quite.

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