ROME — For Sandro Tonali, a move to AC Milan was supposed to be his last. But three years after his highly anticipated San Siro switch, the boyhood Rossoneri fan is waving goodbye.
Although he will pack a well-earned Serie A winner’s medal into his suitcase for his flight to Newcastle, there are questions to be asked about whether Tonali ever fulfilled his potential.
The midfielder was the flag-bearer of an ambitious new generation. His sale has stung. On hearing of his departure, veteran journalist and Milan fan Carlo Pellegatti summed up the feelings of the faithful.
“Not all players are equal. Tonali isn’t like the others, he’s someone who has inherited Milanismo,” he said. “Maybe another strong midfielder will be signed, but it won’t be the same.”
The emotional impact of Tonali’s exit has been heightened as it comes hot on the heels of Paolo Maldini’s exit as technical director and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s retirement.
Three different generations of Milan fan favourites have waved goodbye in the space of a few weeks. But Tonali never got near the levels of Maldini or Ibrahimovic.
His three seasons in Milan could be graded C, A and B: the first was disappointing, the second a triumph, the third average. The midfielder flopped in his debut season but his loan from Brescia was nevertheless made permanent – with Tonali accepting reduced wages to stay on and prove his worth.
His struggles came as a shock to pundits who had touted Tonali as a star-in-the-making following four eye-catching years at Brescia. Tonali soon got sick of comparisons to Andrea Pirlo – which were more to do with the floppy hair – and they probably didn’t help moderate expectations.
But Milan’s faith was eventually justified in 2021-22 when Tonali shone, becoming the midfield motor behind their first Scudetto in 11 years. He was a force of both creation and destruction in the centre of the park and a key figure in their unexpected triumph under Stefano Pioli.
Fabio Capello, who coached Milan to European and domestic dominance in the 1990s, said the midfielder “would have found space” in his team thanks to his “character, strength, quality and intelligence”.
Tonali quipped in 2019 when facing the umpteenth question about Pirlo that his idol was in fact Gennaro Gattuso, and there has since been a temptation to view him as a blend of the two, possessing both technique and grit. However, Tonali didn’t reach the same heights in 2022-23 as Milan’s title defence collapsed.
They eventually snuck into the top four and the midfielder remained a key figure, but he didn’t provide the same dynamic and dominant presence of the previous year on a consistent basis.
To his credit, Tonali earned his highest number of assists – seven – in a league season since 2019-20 with Brescia.
But he scored fewer goals, had a worse pass completion rate and had lower numbers for metrics like interceptions and dribbles as well as conceding more fouls and losing the ball more often.
Although he played an important part in taking Milan to the Champions League semi-finals, Tonali didn’t do enough to catch the eye of Italy coach Roberto Mancini.
He hasn’t established himself as one of Europe’s outstanding midfielders in the last three years in the way that, for example, Nicolo Barella has at Inter.
By the time Barella – also of interest to Newcastle – was Tonali’s age, he was a fixture in the Italy midfield, playing almost every game in Euro 2020 qualifying.
But Tonali only has 14 caps – five as a sub – and has failed to convince Mancini that he deserves to wrestle a shirt off Barella, Jorginho or Marco Verratti. He was sent to the European Under-21 Championship this summer instead of the Nations League finals.
The 23-year-old is a quality operator with potential to improve and his ties to Milan make his sale a bitter pill to swallow. But the €70m (£60.2m) fee was described as a “shock figure” on Gazzetta dello Sport’s Thursday front page, even for a “Milanista idol.”
If the deal goes ahead for the reported figure, Tonali will earn Milan their largest-ever transfer fee as a farewell gift, exceeding Ballon d’Or winner Kaka’s €67m move to Real Madrid in 2009. Tonali will more than triple his current salary at St James’ Park.
It was too good to turn down – and now Newcastle will hope to get the 2021-22 version of Tonali in return.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/TeORj7m
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