Sandro Tonali insisted he has a “perfect” relationship with Eddie Howe despite recent rumours over his Newcastle future.
Speculation surprisingly emerged on Deadline Day that Arsenal had held talks with Tonali’s representatives over a shock move.
The Italian’s agent Giuseppe Riso claimed he “never had any conversation” with the Gunners, though in later comments opened the door to a potential summer exit.
Howe discussed the situation with Tonali after the January window closed and was clear that he had no doubts over Tonali’s commitment.
The 25-year-old, who is contracted through to Newcastle at 2030, echoed that after he scored twice against Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Tonali celebrated the second of those goals by running over to embrace Howe on the touchline.
“The first one, this celebration was, I think, seven months without scoring,” Tonali said.
“if you don’t score for seven months, after the first goal, you celebrate for ten or 11 goals – like Bruno [Guimaraes]!
“But after the second goal, I came to Eddie because in the past few weeks, people spoke about our relationship, but I work every day with the gaffer, the gaffer works every day with me, and our relationship is perfect.
“It’s not broken and I think this is perfect for the team.
“We try to do the best for this team, every game, because we play a lot of games – every three days, we play, and we have to be concentrated every time in the training ground to do the best for our team.”
However, talk over Tonali’s future is still likely to pick up again heading into the summer.
Newcastle sit tenth in the Premier League and have significant work to do if they are to secure another season in the Champions League.
Tonali’s agent hinted that the club qualifying for the competition could be key to ensuring the midfielder does not look elsewhere.
“We will see around March about Sandro’s valuation, but only if Newcastle decide to open doors,” Riso said.
“Newcastle are having a hard time letting go of Sandro, and he wants to lead the club to the Champions League.
“We’ll evaluate and decide what to do in the summer. These transfer discussions will take place later. We’ll see how the season ends and then we’ll decide what to do.”
