Rivaling Arsenal and Man City, Real Madrid are monitoring Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali

JAKARTA - Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali is a player who will be hunted by top clubs. Real Madrid is rumored to be interested in recruiting Tonali. Madrid is ready to compete with Arsenal and Manchester City who are also hunting the Italian national team midfielder.

Madrid's scouting team was caught watching the FA Cup match when Newcastle faced Man City at St James' Park, Sunday, March 8, 2026 early morning WIB. The team from Madrid, according to The Sun, was very serious about watching the match which Man City won 3-1.

Initially they were expected to see the appearance of The Cityzens who will face Madrid in the 16th round of the Champions League. The Spanish LaLiga giant hosts Man City in the first match on Thursday, March 12, 2026 WIB.

However, the Madrid team had another mission. They not only monitored Pep Guardiola's team, but also Tonali who played the full match.

Yes, Madrid is eyeing this 25-year-old midfielder to fill the team's midfield. After the departure of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, Madrid indeed needs a creative and visionary midfielder. Tonali is considered to meet those criteria so that Madrid intends to bring him to Spain.

Not stopping there, Los Merengues also prepared a fund of 100 million pounds to bring in the former AC Milan midfielder. The large funds provided by Madrid show that they are ready to compete with Arsenal and Man City who are also interested in recruiting Tonali.

After the Newcastle match against Man City, Tonali seemed to be familiar with Guardiola. Their familiarity immediately strengthened the rumor that Man City wanted to bring the player.

Only Newcastle is not planning to let Tonali go. After letting go of Alexander Isak with a transfer of 130 million pounds which broke the record for the purchase of players in the English Premier League when he was brought in by Liverpool, but Newcastle actually did not want to sell players anymore. Moreover, Tonali is one of the backbone of The Magpies.

On the other hand, Tonali whose contract only ends in 2030 has no intention of leaving Newcastle. Moreover, the club has supported him when he was banned from playing for 10 months in 2023. At that time, Tonali had not long joined Newcastle.

Not only is he comfortable playing at the club, his wife, Juliette, is also comfortable living in Newcastle.

The player who has a salary of 130 thousand pounds every week also has a very good relationship with manager Eddie Howe. However, when asked about his future at Newcastle, Tonali gave a diplomatic answer.

"It's obviously a difficult question because as you know in football you have to think year by year. We faced a difficult situation last summer because of Alex. But that's football," said Tonali.

"When you have the option of another club, you have to think about everything. I can't say, 'Okay, I want to stay here for another 10 years'. But for now I'm happy here [Newcastle]. I haven't thought about other teams," he said.