Sandro Tonali says Newcastle teammates helped him during his 'worst moment in football'

As speculation grows around the future of Sandro Tonali and a potential exit from Newcastle United, the Italian has given fans a glimmer of hope that he may remain on Tyneside beyond the summer.

Trying to work out exactly where Tonali's head is at right now is practically impossible. The Italian seems to be happy where he is, and both Eddie Howe and David Hopkinson have said that he's not pushing for a move away.

Yet, Tonali's agent has been leaving the door open for a move since February, while Hopkinson's statement that Newcastle will likely have to sell one or two big stars, while talking about Tonali, has invited more speculation.

The Italian is a pretty quiet character and doesn't give much away with his emotions, so trying to get a read on him while he's on the pitch isn't easy.

Tonali's teammates rallied around him after Italy failure

At the weekend, Sky Sports spoke with the 25-year-old, and he spoke about the heartbreak of missing out on qualifying for the World Cup with Italy. Tonali called it his 'worst moment in football', but said his Newcastle teammates were there for him.

“It was one of my worst moments in football,. We were so sad, especially because it was the third time in a row. It was so difficult. We lost against Bosnia, a difficult away game. We had a red card after 40 minutes.

“The next four or five days were really tough for me. I was different with my family and friends. I stayed in my house for five days. I came back to Newcastle, everything (was here) when I came back here. I found my team.

“My (Newcastle) teammates were really good with me because they understood after one second that my sensation was sad. For every kid in Italy, 16 or 17 years old, they’ve never seen one game in the World Cup. It’s the worst thing for us football players. We have to stick together, work and try (again) in four years.”

Should Newcastle be aiming to keep Tonali?

We're definitely grasping at straws here, but that kind of camaraderie could be what keeps him at Newcastle beyond the summer. If you combine that with the fact that he probably still owes us after what happened when he first arrived on Tyneside, then who knows?

Newcastle could bag themselves a decent payday if they were to cash in on Tonali in the summer, and that would go a long way to helping with a much-needed squad rebuild, but for me (and I say me as the Blog offices are split on this one), Tonali is too good to be sacrificed.

Sandro Tonali should be one of the core group that are protected that we should be building a team around, along with Malick Thiaw, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, Lewis Miley, Bruno Guimaraes and Nick Woltemade. I'm hesitant to put Anthony Gordon in that list because he just feels like a destructive force right now.