On Thursday, a story suggesting Sandro Tonali has a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that he can leave Newcastle United should they fail to qualify for Europe hit the headlines.

It comes amid a flurry of rumours around interest in Newcastle’s Italian midfield maestro, which haven’t been helped by the words of his agent, Giuseppe Riso, who seems to pour fuel on the fire every time he speaks, whether it’s intentional or not.

Last night, after missing the derby on Sunday, Tonali was in from the start as Italy swept aside Northern Ireland, with the Toon star scoring and bagging an assist for his country.

Unsurprisingly, this drew the ire of many a fan who took umbrage with the fact that Tonali wasn’t fit to play in the derby on Sunday but was in full form for Italy last night. Personally, I have no issue with this. Injuries heal, and he’s had time to recover and train to know whether he was fit enough. Keith Downie even suggested Tonali wanted to play on Sunday but was advised not to.

Unnamed official denies Tonali story

Many fans are probably just bitter with all the talk of suggestions that he wants to leave and are lashing out, but all may not be as it seems.

Writing on X last night, The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards hit back at claims that Sandro Tonali can leave this summer should Newcastle miss out on European football.

Claiming to have spoken to an unnamed ‘Newcastle United official’ who spoke to the media on Thursday night, it’s thought they denied suggestions that there is any ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that allows the 25-year-old to depart on this basis.

‘Newcastle United official has communicated to media tonight that there is no gentleman’s agreement Sandro Tonali can leave this summer if club do not qualify for Europe.

‘That does not mean he won’t leave but he hasn’t said he wants to go and neither has there been any contact with #nufc from interested clubs at this stage.

‘It’s only March but yet another week of stories linking Newcastle players with a move. Going to be a long summer.’

No smoke without fire?

While Luke Edwards’ claims have been repeated by other journalists, it is hard to know who to believe. ‘Unnamed source’ always gives us pause for thought. We understand why they’d want to remain anonymous, but it also makes it easy for stories to be made up, or at least embellished.

It stands to reason that a player as ambitious as Tonali would want to ensure he was playing in Europe every season, so we’d not be shocked if it was on his mind. However, he is part of the reason we’re struggling to get into Europe, so if he wants to play at the top, he’s got to prove he’s worthy.

Time will tell, but one thing that wasn’t ‘made up’ was his agent doing the media rounds from early February onwards to talk up a potential move away, and we can’t help but feel that this is Riso’s goal, whether Tonali agrees or not. Let’s just hope that if Tonali does want to stay, he puts his foot down with his agent.