The Athletic's resident renowned English transfer journalist David Ornstein, has exclusively refuted fake news which claimed that Newcastle United's Italy international midfielder Sandro Tonali had been pursued by Arsenal during the recent winter transfer window.

According to Ornstein, he was surprised and in disbelief when he saw the rumour, so he asked his colleague, The Athletic's Newcastle team correspondents, to immediately verify the information with insiders.

Both Ornstein and the correspondent discovered that the rumour was completely fake and was a fabrication by Tonali's agent.

Ornstein said, Tonali has as many as seven agents, each with their own authority, and none of them are a general agent, making the player's agency situation extremely complex and chaotic.

In fact, the controversy arose because one of the seven agents suddenly leaked this information to Sky Sports' resident renowned German transfer journalist Florian Plettenberg, claiming that Tonali was being pursued by Arsenal on the January's winter transfer window deadline day and commissioned Plettenberg to report on it.

However, Tonali himself was completely unaware of this, and Arsenal had never made any approach with Newcastle United.

The incident stemmed from the agent's unilateral attempt to offer Tonali to the Gunners so that he could join Arsenal as a stand-in for the injured Spain international midfielder Mikel Merino.

Furthermore, due to the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) limit, neither Arsenal nor any other Premier League club could possibly afford to spend nearly £100 million to acquire Tonali while not violating these rules.

It also makes no sense that Newcastle United would agree to sell a key player like Tonali during the winter transfer window so easily.

After Ornstein's initial rebuttal, the agent shortly afterward commissioned an exclusive report from Sky Sports to change his story, claiming he had never leaked the information to Plettenberg in an attempt to shift his blame and evade responsibility.

However, shortly after Sky Sports' follow-up report was released, Ornstein published another article criticizing the agent, saying that he clearly knew he had made a huge mistake and suddenly changed his story, thus claimed that he never said those things in an attempt to change public opinion, but in reality, it was his despicable act to try to save face.

About Sandro Tonali

The 25-year-old Sandro Tonali was born on May 8, 2000, in Lodi, Lombardi, Italy. He is 1.82 meters tall and plays as a defensive midfielder.

Tonali previously played for Piacenza, Brescia, and AC Milan, winning one Serie B title and one Serie A title.

In July 2023, Tonali joined Newcastle United for €70 million, breaking the transfer fee record and becoming the most expensive Italian player in the world.

Since joining Newcastle United, Tonali has made 93 appearances for the new Premier League giants in all competitions, scoring 7 goals and providing 8 assists, as well as winning the Carabao Cup once.

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