Tonali can’t commit long-term future to Newcastle after MOTM Champions League display

Following his man of the match performance for Newcastle in the Champions League on Wednesday night, Italy international Sandro Tonali has said that he is ‘happy’ in the North East of England, but refused to commit his long-term future to the Magpies: ‘I don’t want to say I want to stay here for 10 years and then go in two or three’. 

The former Milan midfielder was awarded the man of the match award for his performance during Newcastle’s 2-0 win over Athletic Club in the Champions League on Wednesday night. 

Wednesday’s win at St. James’ Park means that Newcastle are now sixth in the Champions League table with three wins and one loss from their opening four matches in the competition. 

“A very good win. We deserved this win, we deserved everything, we played very well from the start and this is important for the team,” Tonali said of his side’s performance after full-time. 

“We played three days ago, we played so bad. For the 90 minutes, the game was so tough, but this is football. You play every three days, you have a chance every three days to change your week, and we changed it to a positive week because we won today.”

Tonali also spoke to Sky Sports in the UK after his performance against Athletic Club. The British outlet asked Tonali about his recent contract extension and his long-term commitment to Newcastle. 

While Tonali insists that he is happy at St James’ Park, and that he is not currently considering a move elsewhere, he refused to commit his long-term future to the club. 

“I don’t want to say I want to stay here for 10 years and then in two, three, four or five years I go,” Tonali told Sky. 

“Last summer was tough for us and for Alex (Isak), but that’s football. If you have an option for your life, for your team, you need to think about everything in football. 

“I don’t want to say ‘I want to stay for 10 years’ but I am happy here now and I’m not thinking about other teams.”