Sandro Tonali’s transfer to Newcastle United from AC Milan in the summer of 2023 still stings with many Rossoneri fans.
The midfielder, who has been a supporter of the Italian giants since his childhood , arrived at Newcastle United for a fee of €70m.
Milan owner Gerry Cardinale has spoken to Harvard Business School about Tonali and the comments were published in a detailed document by the institution.
Cardinale said, as relayed by MilanNews: “We didn’t sell him to Newcastle United because we needed him. We sold him because we received an excellent offer and we made a risk-return assessment. We collected €70m plus an earn-out of €10m, the highest figure ever in Serie A.”
“And thanks to that sale we bought six new players and completely renewed the team. We don’t sell out of necessity, we sell out of opportunism. If we remain disciplined, there will always be counterparties on the market who will allow extraordinary returns for the players.”
The questions and remarks about Tonali did not end there. As club CEO Giorgio Furlani also spoke about the Azzurri star’s move to Tyneside.
He said, as relayed by Corriere della Sera: “I realised that there is no way to escape what they say on television or write in the newspapers. It really hits you on bad days.”
“And then there are even worse days, like when I get death threats, for example when we sold Tonali. It was in those moments that I thought: “Okay, they don’t teach you these things at Harvard Business School.”
It seems a large section of Milan fans were clearly not happy he was sold, even if key midfielders like Tijjani Reijnders and Youssouf Fofana have been signed.
The ship might have already sailed for the Milan, even if the midfielder has been linked with a move back to Italy in recent days.
Tonali’s agent Giuseppe Riso and Magpies boss Eddie Howe have denied talk of an exit and that is why Milan fans should also move on from the saga.
