Sandro Tonali (; born 8 May 2000) is an Italian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays mainly as a

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and the Italy national team.

Club career

Brescia

2017–2019: Serie B

Tonali made his professional debut for

Brescia Calcio Brescia Calcio, commonly referred to as Brescia (), is an Italian football club based in Brescia, Lombardy, that currently plays in . The club holds the record for total number of seasons (64) and consecutive seasons (18, from 1947–48 to 1 ...

on 26 August 2017, aged 17, coming on as a substitute in the

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

away match lost 2–1 against

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

. On 28 April 2018 he scored his first professional career goal, in a 4–2 defeat against

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

in Serie B. He obtained 19 league appearances in total during his first season as a professional player, scoring two goals and providing two assists during the

2017–18 Serie B The 2017–18 Serie B (known as the Serie B ConTe.it for sponsorship reasons) was the 86th season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 15 returning from the 2016–17 Serie B season, 4 promoted from 2016–1 ...

season. The following season, Tonali won the Serie B title with Brescia, and achieved promotion to Serie A, featuring as a starter for the club throughout the entire 2018–19 season.

2019–2020: Serie A

He made his Serie A debut on 25 August 2019, aged 19, in a 1–0 away win against

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

. On 29 September, he assisted

Mario Balotelli Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss Super League club Sion. Balotelli started his professional football career in 2005 at Lumezzane, before ...

's goal from a corner kick in a 2–1 away loss to

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

; he also scored a goal during the match with a powerful shot from outside the area, which was disallowed by

VAR Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

, however, for a foul by Brescia's

Dimitri Bisoli Dimitri Bisoli (born 25 March 1994) is an Italian footballer who plays as midfielder for Italian Serie B side Brescia. Career Bisoli began his professional career for Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Prato in 2012. He successively played for Sant ...

on Napoli's

Nikola Maksimović Nikola Maksimović ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Максимовић, ; born 25 November 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. Club career Early career Maksimović began his career with Kosmos Bajina Bašta, before ...

. He scored his first Serie A goal on 26 October, netting a long-range

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offence ...

into the top corner from the left flank, which was the opening goal in an eventual 3–1 away defeat to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

2020–2021: loan to AC Milan

On 9 September 2020, Tonali joined

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

, on a season-long loan for €10 million with an option to buy for €15 million, plus bonuses worth €10 million. The player will earn a yearly wage of €2 million for five years. Three days later, he made his non-competitive debut in a friendly at

Milanello Milanello Sports Centre ('' it, Centro Sportivo Milanello''), commonly referred to as simply Milanello, is the training facility of Italian football club A.C. Milan. Built in 1963, the centre consists of , including a pinewood and a little lake. I ...

against his former club

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. Tonali made his competitive debut for Milan on 17 September 2020, coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute in a 2–0 victory against

Shamrock Rovers FC Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

in the second round of Europa League qualifying. He made his Serie A debut for Milan on 21 September 2020, coming off the bench in the 77th minute in a 2–0 victory over

Bologna FC 1909 Bologna Football Club 1909, commonly referred to as Bologna (), is an Italian professional football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. The club have won seven top-flight titles, two C ...

at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

. Tonali finished the season with 37 appearances, 23 of those in the starting eleven.

AC Milan

2021–2022: Serie A champion

On 8 July 2021, Milan officially purchased Tonali's rights from Brescia and he signed a five-year contract with the club. He took a pay-cut to secure his childhood dream move to Milan and was praised by the fans on social media for this gesture. Tonali scored his first goal with Milan's shirt on 29 August 2021 against Cagliari, a free kick that opened the scoresheet in eventual 4–1 win. On 3 October at Gewiss Stadium against Atalanta, Tonali dispossessed the ball from Freuler and ran to the opponents box to score the second goal in eventual 3–2 victory for Milan. On 25 February 2022, Tonali assisted Leao's goal against Udinese, becoming the youngest midfielder to have scored more than one goal (two) and delivered more than one assist (two) in Serie A that season. On 24 April as the match against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

was heading to 1–1 draw, Tonali scored the winner in the stoppage time, securing the lead for his team in Serie A table. On 8 May 2022, his 22nd birthday, Tonali scored an equalizing and a winning goal in the 3–1 away Serie A victory against

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

, with both goals assisted by

Rafael Leão Rafael Alexandre da Conceição Leão (; born 10 June 1999) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for club AC Milan and the Portugal national team. Graduating from Sporting CP youth system, Leão made his first-team d ...

in a similar manner. Before that, he also scored an opening goal which was eventually disallowed due to small offside. The comeback victory brought Milan back on top of the Serie A following Inter's 48-hour stay there in a close championship race. Tonali is also the youngest midfielder to have scored five or more goals in Serie A this season (and the second-youngest among all players, older only than Bologna's Aaron Hickey). After 3–0 away win against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

on 22 May, Milan secured their first Scudetto in 11 years, In total, Tonali played 36 games in this campaign, scoring 5 goals and providing 3 assists. Tonali's performance this season brought the attention and praise of renowned Italian football pundits, the likes of Di Canio, Donadoni and Capello, the latter went on to state that Tonali would've found a place in even the greatest of Milan's generation in the past.

Newcastle United

On 3 July 2023,

club

announced the signing of Tonali on a five-year contract, for an undisclosed fee. Reported to be around €70 million, this made Tonali the most expensive Italian player of all time. On 18 July, he made his debut for Newcastle in

Allan McGregor Allan James McGregor (born 31 January 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Rangers. McGregor has also previously played for St Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic, Turkish team Beşikta ...

's testimonial match against Rangers. On 12 August, he scored the opening goal on his Premier League debut in a 5–1 win over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

International career

Youth

With the Italy U19 he took part in the 2018 European Under-19 Championship, reaching the final of the tournament, where Italy lost 4–3 after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 21 March 2019, in a 0–0 friendly draw against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

. He took part in the 2019 European Under-21 Championship.

Senior

In November 2018, he was called for the first time to the senior national team by manager

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Samp ...

. After appearing for the Italy U21 side in a 0–0 away draw against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 10 October 2019, in a European qualifier, he was called up to the Italy senior squad once again the following day, for the team's

Euro 2020 qualifiers The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europe ...

against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

. Tonali made his senior international debut on 15 October 2019, coming on as a substitute in the 5–0 away win against Liechtenstein in

Vaduz Vaduz ( or , High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' Hrsg. ...

. His first start for Italy came in his following appearance on 15 November, a 3–0 away win over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Style of play

Regarded as a promising young Italian player in his position by the media, Tonali is a ''regista''. He is often likened to

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Considered one of the best deep-lying playmakers ever, Pirlo was renowned for his visio ...

– who also started his career with

– in terms of his movement, coordination, appearance, technical qualities, position, and playing style. A strong, fast, energetic, elegant, and creative

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, with excellent vision and an ability to read the game, Tonali usually plays in a

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

defensive midfield A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

role as deep-lying

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

in a 4–3–3 formation, Dictating play for Brescia with his passing in midfield, he set up two goals and scored two himself in his 19 appearances in Serie B during the 2017–18 season. Although naturally right-footed, he is known for his accurate long passing ability with either foot. Moreover, he is also adept at taking set-pieces. In addition to Pirlo, Tonali has also cited

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...

and

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an attack ...

as influences, and has also compared his own playing style to that of

Gennaro Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who currently serves as manager of La Liga club Valencia. He was born in Corigliano (Calabria). As a player, he mainly played in the cent ...

. In July 2019, he was named by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

as one of the 50 promising young players to watch for the 2019–20 season.

Personal life

Tonali has been a Milan fan since childhood.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Brescia *

: 2018–19 AC Milan *

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

: 2021–22 Italy U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

runner-up:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual * UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament:

Serie B Footballer of the Year The AIC Serie B Young Footballer of the Year ( it, Migliore giovane della Serie B ''AIC'') is a yearly award organized by the Italian Footballers' Association (AIC) given to the young footballer who has been considered to have performed the best ov ...

: 2018 *Serie B Best Young Player: 2019 * Italian Golden Boy Award: 2020 * IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team: 2020 * Serie A Player of the Month: May 2022 *

Premio Bulgarelli Number 8 The Bulgarelli Number 8 Award is an annual association football award given by the Associazione Bulgarelli and Italian Footballers' Association, with the support of FIFPRO, to the best midfielder of the previous calendar year. History and regula ...

: 2022 *

Team of the Season:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

External links

* *
Profile at FIGC.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonali, Sandro 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Lodi, Lombardy Footballers from Lombardy Italian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Brescia Calcio players AC Milan players Newcastle United F.C. players Serie A players Serie B players Premier League players Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's international footballers