Giuseppe Riso and Sandro Tonali have been making headlines.
The agent of the Newcastle United star giving an interview to media in Italy.
Giuseppe Riso was speaking to Calcio Finanza.
This is not a transfer speculation media organisation.
Instead, Calcio Finanza is a specialist Italian online newspaper (founded in 2013), which dedicated to the economics and financial aspects of football and sport. It specialises with in-depth analysis on topics such as player contracts, club budgets, sponsorships, and TV rights. The outlet is highly regarded in Italy and beyond, for its work on the business side of sports.
Anyway, when Giuseppe Riso did a recent interview with Calcio Finanza, what was taken away from it and used by other (less respected…) Italian media, was a sensationalist bit regarding Sandro Tonali.
This ‘sensational exclusive’ reported as Sandro Tonali set to sign for a club such as Arsenal or Manchester City at the end of this season, that this was always (supposedly) the plan, right from the moment Tonali first signed for Newcastle United.
As is the way of the media these days, this ‘exclusive’ has then been blindly repeated everywhere, until it is now seen as fact.
What is the truth though?
Well, a few things need establishing first.
Giuseppe Riso isn’t just a typical agent, he is THE agent in Italy, the main man. He founded GR Sports and his company are easily the biggest when it comes to representing Italian players and when dealing with Serie A clubs.
When it came to this latest interview with Calcio Finanza, this is how they introduced it on their site: ‘The founder of GR Sports discusses the changing face of football, including investment funds, player trading, and the global market, including his ties to Adriano Galliani and Mino Raiola.’
This was not a Giuseppe Riso interview about Sandro Tonali.
However, Sandro Tonali is a huge story in Italy, always. The brilliant young homegrown player who at such a young age, turned his back on Serie A and moved to Newcastle United.
Losing their top young talents so early, isn’t something Serie A and the Italian footballing public are used to. It was a very serious blow to them, their pride badly shaken.
Ever since he left Serie A, the Italian media constantly making up stuff claiming that imminently, Sandro Tonali is going to come back and play in his home country. They do this, shamelessly, because they know that is what their readership want to hear. Even if it bears no relation to the truth.
Which brings us back to this latest Giuseppe Riso interview.
As outlined above, this was a very wide ranging interview and only one small part involved the subject of Sandro Tonali getting brought up.
Again as stated above, this is the norm, Sandro Tonali is always a huge story in Italy and so pretty much any interview the boss of the top agency gives, they will take the chance to ask about the Newcastle United star.
In this particular interview, Calcio Finanza saying to Giuseppe Riso: “Regarding Tonali’s sale to Newcastle in July 2023, that transfer was controversial because he was among the key players in AC Milan’s 2022 Scudetto campaign, becoming a symbol of Milanism…it was heavily criticised by fans.”
Giuseppe Riso replying: “The deal came about because a club like Newcastle with unlimited financial resources had decided to invest in Sandro. We considered the idea of having the player play in a higher level league.”
This is actually an interview where Riso was keen to make clear just how impressed he and Sandro Tonali have been with the brilliant support given to the player by Newcastle United and their fans.
Asked: “Did you ever have any inkling of the betting problem that led to his disqualification?”
Giuseppe Riso replying: “No, absolutely not, because otherwise we would have intervened. I must say that the transfer also turned out to be a winning choice from this point of view. Because both Newcastle United and their fans treated Sandro incredibly, always supporting him. In Italy, he received different treatment. Not from the AC Milan fans, who always protected him. In England [at Newcastle United], the mentality is different, and every time Sandro entered the stadium, despite his suspension, he received a standing ovation from the crowd. We’re talking about a guy who made a mistake, the fans noticed, and he was forgiven. Now, Sandro has completely changed.”
So after all that positivity about Newcastle United and their fans, we get to that claimed huge negative in this interview.
The bit that has been spewed out and blindly repeated, time and time again, as the ‘sensational exclusive’ to drive traffic and drive an anti- Newcastle United agenda.
Calcio Finanza asking the agent: “Newcastle United are already a Champions League club, but now it’s said that Tonali is in the sights of top clubs, those who instead aspire to win the Premier League, like Arsenal or Manchester City.”
Giusesppe Riso replying to this: “Exactly, that was the goal from the moment he went to England: to try to make him a star player. I think he’s the Italian footballer with one of the highest values in the world.”
This is where the truth has been ‘lost’ in translation.
What Giuseppe Riso said, what he really meant.
The way this small part of the interview was presented, it was reported as though the agent had said the plan was always from the start, for Sandro Tonali to simply use Newcastle United as a stepping stone, that the plan is absolutely at the end of the season for the midfielder to join Arsenal, Man City, or whoever.
Who knows what will (or won’t!) happen at the end of this season BUT this is not what Giuseppe Riso said in this interview.
When he says “Exactly, that was the goal from the moment he went to England…”
Giuseppe Riso clearly is meaning that “the goal” he is referring to, was “to try and make him a star player.”
This he further backs up, when saying: “I think he’s the Italian footballer with one of the highest values in the world.”
To sum up what Giuseppe Riso said in this interview about Sandro Tonali, it is that the plan was for him to come to Newcastle United and play in the Premier League, to progress his career and improve him year on year as a player, so that Sandro Tonali could become the best Italian player in the world if possible, the one with the highest ability and therefore value, that any club would want in their team.
Who knows what will happen with Sandro Tonali, or indeed any other player, whether they play for Newcastle United or whichever club.
Like all top players, it is up to Newcastle United to convince and reassure Sandro Tonali that his ambitions can be satisfied at NUFC, that they have a plan to keep on progressing, to have success and for Sandro Tonali to be happy and content, on and off the pitch.
Sandro Tonali absolutely appreciates what everybody at Newcastle United has done for him, the fans as well. The support he has had. Many times in interviews he has made clear how happy he is at the club and how much he values Eddie Howe.
Sandro Tonali was more than happy to sign a contract extension and has a contract until end of June 2029, which is really end of June 2030, as it was agreed at the time that Newcastle United would also have an extra year that could be added if they choose to.
In the entire time since the Newcastle United takeover, since Eddie Howe came in some four and a half years, only one player has chosen to leave Newcastle United and we all know who that is. Somebody who we all thought was a certain type of character, only to be proved so wrong. Quite unbelievable how the rat carried on.
Sandro Tonali never gives less than 100% on the pitch, which in reality wasn’t the case always with you know who.
That is pretty much all I am bothered about as things stand. Sandro Tonali, as is always the case, giving it his all for the rest of this season and then hopefully he will be heading off to the World Cup finals and we will be all sitting at home watching him star for Italy, looking forward to Sandro Tonali playing for United next season.