BACK Man Utd and Arsenal are “on pole” to sign Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali, according to reports in the Italian media. Tuttosport claim that the Red Devils are keen on replacing the departing Casemiro with the 25-year-old. Arsenal, meanwhile, appear to be talking to Tonali‘s agent, with his representative Giuseppe Riso having reportedly attended the Gunners’ 1-0 win over Brighton earlier this week. Even so, Newcastle won’t let the player leave St James’ Park without a fight, with his asking price set at around €100m (£87m). Scholes thinks “brilliant” Tonali is better than Declan Rice Speaking earlier this year, Man Utd icon Paul Scholes was very complimentary about Tonali, ranking him among the best midfielders in the Premier League. He even went as far as to say that the Italian international is better than Arsenal’s Declan Rice, who has been receiving a lot of plaudits from pundits this season: “I love Tonali. He’s been brilliant. Very good. I would probably choose Tonali [as one of the best] at this point. Yes, you’re going to say Rice, but I think he’s better than him.” Man Utd will need to qualify for the Champions League The Red Devils’ chances of securing Tonali’s services very much rely on Michael Carrick guiding the team to a top 4/5 finish this season. In addition to Arsenal, Tuttosport name both Real Madrid and Juventus as the midfielder’s other potential suitors. A move to Old Trafford would seem a lot less attractive than these other clubs, unless Champions League football is on offer. It should also be pointed out that United’s transfer budget might not stretch far enough to match Tonali’s price tag if they do not secure the riches from being in Europe’s top club competition anyway. Want more news on Man Utd? Add Man U News as a preferred source on Google David Tully David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for the Football News Network.





