Newcastle United are set to face Sandro Tonali for the first time since his £100million move to Tottenham Hotspur.
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Sandro Tonali has backtracked on claims he spoke to Roberto De Zerbi before the end of last season.
Newcastle United fans were left stunned when the Tottenham Hotspur boss slipped up when speaking to reporters earlier this summer. De Zerbi claimed he expressed interest directly with Tonali before the Magpies faced West Ham United in May.
Tonali is claimed to have given the green light to commence Spurs talks as long as they stayed up. A meeting between the two took place in the midfielder’s home just two days after the campaign ended.
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Sandro Tonali backtracks
Speaking to Sky Sports, Tonali has claimed De Zerbi was simply “joking” with his initial message - and the contact did not become serious until later in the summer. He said: “The first time, he was joking, because he was really happy for last season. We started to speak a little bit later in the summer.
“Just one time, we met. Our town is so small, it's not very big. We met like friends. The first time we never spoke about football, so this was very good for me. We started to speak about football after five or six days. We spoke for 10 minutes, and after 10 minutes I decided to sign here, because he convinced me very quickly.”
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‘A family club’ - Sandro Tonali
Continuing the charm offensive - otherwise known as PR spin - Tonali also opened up about his love for Newcastle. He added: “Newcastle is really a family club. The people who work inside… there are a lot of people. The whole team is different. Full of energy, full of passion. All the people there are like a piece of the puzzle.
“Every person is important at the same time. If you are a kid, a manager, if you are the director, if you are a player… For us, it was a key to play the best game (in) every game. I said (I wanted) the best transfer for them because they deserve everything. They showed me what I really love.
“When I signed for Newcastle, just after eight games I was banned. They showed me love like my mum and dad. I said to my agent ‘I want the best deal for them’, because they deserve everything.”