MILAN BOSS STEFANO PIOLI ON WHETHER HE KNEW OF SANDRO TONALI’S BETTING ISSUE: “ABSOLUTELY NOT”

Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has on Tuesday spoken out over the betting scandal facing former Rossoneri star Sandro Tonali.

Midfielder Tonali has of course long taken his place front and centre in the headlines in Italy and England alike. This comes after the 23-year-old was slapped with a 10-month ban, for a series of breaches of Italian football’s betting rules.

The verdict caused quite a stir, with Tonali’s transgressions having taken place whilst he was lining out in his home country. Newcastle United, who purchased the former Brescia talent during the summer, though, have found themselves as the major losers in the situation.

Speaking to the media ahead of Milan’s showdown with the Magpies on Wednesday, the subject of Tonali’s ban, and Newcastle’s understandable frustration, were therefore put to the aforementioned Stefano Pioli.

And the Rossoneri headmaster, in his response, was first quick to reiterate the fact that the San Siro brass had absolutely no idea about their midfield standout’s gambling problem prior to his sale:

“I think the moment they bought a player like him, Newcastle made a deal, then no one could have predicted what happened,”

He continued:

“There are no doubts about his footballing qualities. Newcastle have certainly signed an excellent player.”

From here, Pioli was drawn on his personal relationship with Tonali, assuring that the pair remain ‘close’:

“I’m very close to him, he was a boy with us very positive and very important for the growth of the team. Unfortunately he fell into something delicate. We are close to him and I hope that this experience can help him do better in the future.”

On whether he had any knowledge of the midfielder’s behind-closed-doors issues, he concluded:

“Absolutely not. I think I have a fairly open relationship with the players, I try to talk to them about many things but we don’t really know what they do.”