A target for some of the biggest clubs in Europe after a great start to life in Serie A, Sandro Tonali could end up staying in Italy after his time at Brescia, and not with a Champions League club.
That is, at least, what Fiorentina News are reporting on Friday, as they believe Fiorentina are working hard behind the scenes to beat the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea to the Italian youngster’s signing.
Both the Etihad and the Stamford Bridge sides are mentioned in the article as interested parties, with the website going as far as saying they are ‘crazy’ about Tonali.
For Fiorentina, it’s state Daniele Pradè, the club’s sporting director, has been hard at work behind the scenes with both the young defensive midfielder’s entourage and Brescia’s owner Massimo Cellino to try and get a head start on the competition.
He is seen as ‘perfect’ for the Serie A side’s midfielder next to Erick Pulgar and Gaetano Castrovilli, and would also allow Milan Badelj to be given a rest.
The belief is that Cellino will ‘aim high’ with his demands for Tonali, ‘at least €40m’, and Pradè is working on the possibility of buying the player in January and loan him back to Brescia until the end of the season.
More bad news for Chelsea and Manchester City is the youngster ‘would prefer to stay in Italy’, and ‘Florence could be the right place to continue to grow gradually’.
The new owner ‘wants to give Florence a dream midfielder for the next ten years’, and Tonali appears to be part of the aspiration.
It’ll now be up to Frank Lampard and Pep Guardiola to push their respective clubs to get something done soon if they want to avoid seeing him slip through their fingers.
