Sandro Tonali has explained why he decided to join Milan over Juventus from Brescia in 2020, despite an attempt from former Bianconeri defender Matthijs De Ligt, who had attempted to lure the current Newcastle midfielder to Turin as opposed to San Siro.
Tonali joined Milan in the summer of 2020, on an initial loan deal, which became permanent the following year at a total cost of around €35m including the original loan fee, the transfer fee and bonuses.
The 25-year-old admitted that there was serious interest from Inter and Juventus as well as from Milan, and that he ‘really didn’t know’ which team to sign for until a few days before the close of the summer transfer window, despite being a boyhood Rossoneri supporter.
Speaking in an interview with Cronache di Spogliatoio, Tonali explained how he decided which team to sign for, and how De Ligt attempted to talk him into signing for Juventus.
The Brescia group was in Sardinia. We met De Ligt at a restaurant. It was the last year we played against each other in Serie A, the COVID year. He spoke very highly of Juventus, and as a player he advised me to think about it. It was around then when I was negotiating with Milan,” Tonali said, reported.
“It was the summer when I ended up in the newspapers. It would have been difficult for me to return to Serie B with Brescia. Milan, Inter and Juve were all trying throughout the summer. People were telling me: ‘Come to Inter, come to Milan, come to Juventus’.
“If we’re talking honestly, I was coming off my last year with Brescia where I had a a €200,000 (per year) contract. I had a summer where I never knew who to sign with. Until the last five days, I really didn’t know which team I would go to.”
Tonali went on to explain that signing for Milan was the realisation of a childhood dream, although he hinted that achieving so many goals played a part in his later struggles with gambling, as he had already achieved everything he had set out to by the age of 21.
“Iin the end I found myself at Milan, which is the team I always supported as a child, with a contract of around €2.5m (per year). I said to myself ‘Okay, I did it, I’ve arrived. That’s it’.
“For me, coming from a city and not having a rich family, I said to myself: ‘Okay, that’s enough, I’m just having fun now, I don’t have to think about anything anymore’. And I was a 21-year-old kid who was living in Milan with his girlfriend, earning a lot of money, playing for my favourite team. I had no more goals in life.”
