Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has responded to the bemusing speculation surrounding Sandro Tonali’s future.

Reports in Italy this week have claimed Tonali has emerged as a target for Real Madrid with AC Milan holding a 10 per-cent future sell-on clause.

The 24-year-old has only recently returned from his 10-month betting ban and made just 19 appearances for Newcastle in total since joining for £55million last year.

When the rumours were put to Howe, he replied: “That one is news to me. It is not something I am even contemplating. I am trying to build Sandro into the team after his ban.

“I think he has performed really well the last few games, I have been really pleased with how he is finding his feet in the team.

“He is building new relationships. It is not just the player coming into the team it is also the players around Sandro because he is such a central player how those relationships start to form, and I have been pleased how they have.

“I think he’s been very good psychologically, his attitude has been excellent and I am really hopeful for the future of him in our team.”

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Tonali started the Carabao Cup second round win at Nottingham Forest in the first game back after his suspension but had to wait a further three matches before starting a Premier League game.

Newcastle head to Chelsea this afternoon and the midfielder is expected to feature in the starting line-up.

Howe added: “[I’ve had] a lot of individual meetings with him and a lot of tactical reviews. It is one thing reviewing his training performances but that is totally different from reviewing his match performances and find ways of taking his game to another level.

“It is a lot easier when a player is in the team. I have pleased the way he has come back from his ban. The international games have helped him and he has made a good transition back into the team.”