The 30-plus Sandro Tonali questions Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe faced at extraordinary press conference

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe fielded a number of questions from journalists about Sandro Tonali at his press conference on Friday morning.

Howe sat down in front of the media at the club’s Benton training base to preview Saturday afternoon’s Premier League clash at home to Crystal Palace (kick-off 3pm). But given the events surrounding Tonali this week, it’ll come as a surprise to no one that the Italian dominated the pre-match talk.

A club statement from the Magpies on Wednesday confirmed the 23-year-old is subject to an investigation by the Italian Prosecutor’s Office and Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in relation to illegal betting activity.

Tonali’s agent Giuseppe Riso has publicly revealed Tonali is battling a gambling addiction.

Here’s everything that was said and asked about Tonali:

How is Sandro Tonali? Is he with you? He is available for selection?

“Yes, he’s very much with us. He trained twice this week with us and he’s very much available for selection, like I do with all the players, analysing their training performances, how they look, how they feel, and Sandro has trained well with us.

Is he in the right frame of mind to play?

“He’s had a very, very difficult couple of weeks. He’s been dealing with a lot and from what I can see - I see him for a few hours a day – from what I can see, he’s handling himself really well and he’s dealing with his emotions incredibly strongly.

“But underneath that, I’m sure there’s a lot going on, so I’ll have to make a call. But always, I have to bring it back to football, I have to bring it back to his training performances and what he’s delivering on the pitch, and then try to make the best decision for the team.

Can you tell us about the support you’re giving him?

“For me, it’s absolutely crucial. The most important part of this whole incident in Sandro and his welfare. It’s very easy for people to forget how young he is, the changes he’s had in his life coming from Italy to England.

“That’s hard enough to deal with, and now he has, of course, this situation, so we as a football club straight away, it was throw our arms around him and protect him and try to give him the love and support that he needs to find solutions to the problems that he’s had.

“That’s what we’re endeavouring to do with a lot of conversations, a lot of communication with him and his family, because it’s not just Sandro, it’s the people around him that are going to be so important to him as well.

“It’s been a big effort from us and I have to say, he’s handled himself superbly well. He’s been obviously emotional, but handled himself with respect and dignity.

Any indication when you might hear more about the investigation?

“Personally, no I don’t. The other people dealing with that maybe have a better idea, but for me, my focus has been on Sandro himself and training this week.”

Did the Tonali news come as a surprise to the club?

“I got a phone call from Dan Ashworth [sporting director] during the international break and it was a total surprise to me, to him, to everybody.

“But these are things that can happen and my immediate thought process was for Sandro and making sure he’s okay so yeah, a difficult period for him.

Is this the first time you’ve had to deal with something like this?

“I’m just trying to think back... I think it probably is, yes. There are so many different things with people’s personal lives that can happen. Footballers are human beings and to look at them anything other is wrong.

“They can have – and we all have as humans – vulnerabilities, weaknesses and things that happen in our lives that can be difficult, so the main thing is we identify it and then support the player and try, as we’ll always do, try to help them get to their best level on the football pitch.

Are you concerned that AC Milan perhaps knew about this?

“That’s something I can’t comment on. I’ve got no idea. My thought-process is all about Sandro and just trying to help him.”

How frustrating that this was in his background and the club didn’t know?

“That’s a very difficult one. From our side, Sandro is a top, top person and a top character. I’ve got no doubts about him as a person at all. But like anybody, you don’t know everything about every person. It’s impossible to, but it’s our job now to help and support him.”

Is this a reminder that everybody is human?

“Everyone is human and everyone will make mistakes. That’s part of human beings. I think the big thing for us is to support, educate, help. As a football club, it’s our duty to protect all our players and that’s what we’ll do with Sandro.”

Are you concerned about football’s relationship with Newcastle’s three betting partners?

“That’s a difficult one for me to comment on. My job is to coach the team, manage the team and that’s what I’ll do. It’s probably best that I stick to those subjects.

How difficult is it to maintain player welfare away from the club?

“When the players are here, we can do everything we can to try to look after them, make sure they’re dealing with the strains that being a professional footballer can entail and some of the pitfalls that are there, try to help them and educate them.

“But you certainly can’t live their lives for them, that’s impossible. The big thing for me in my role is that I want to be there as someone they can talk to and they can come to in times of difficulty, somewhere they know they’ll get total impartiality, trust and we can hopefully navigate through the problem together.

“That’s the relationship that I need with all of my players. Now with some, you may have stronger relationships than with others, that’s just natural. But I’d like to think that between me and the coaching team, we can fulfil those roles.

“But then when they go home – that’s what I was talking about with Bruno’s dad and those family relationships and relationships with their agents and family and friends are even more important because hopefully they can also help the players in difficult times.”

Is there anger inside the club?

“I don’t think so. I don’t think we can look at it like that. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We can’t play that game. We make a decision based on football. Signing the players we think can make the team better and that is what we have done.

“I don’t think there is anger from the club. I think there is understanding of the situation we are in. Now we have to make a really tough situation the best we can, navigate our way out of it, support Sandro the best we can and get back to playing football.”

If banned how will you cope with that?

“It is too early to say. We will make a decision based on the facts that we have.”

Has it impacted your preparations?

“My time has been spent on certain phone calls and my attention has been taken to the important issues but in terms of training and preparing the team, no. I always try to make that one of my priorities. It’s been a challenging couple of weeks but nothing I haven’t already faced in football.”

Have you felt the need to address the squad?

“I’ve addressed the squad on football, as I do every day but in terms of talking about an individual player, no that’s not something I tend to do unless I feel the need to do it. I’ve faced many situations like this, many not directly similar to this where I would always think long and hard about what I do when interacting with the whole squad.

“I think the squad have really rallied around Sandro and really supported him, and that’s been great to see. He’s a very popular member of the dressing room and I think everybody’s main thoughts are caring for him and making sure he’s OK.”

The fans will get behind Sandro if he plays v Palace?

“I hope so. I think that would be Sandro’s wish and our wish. Everybody connected with Newcastle makes us stronger together and it makes us more a united and tighter in protecting and helping someone who is in a difficult situation.

“Internally, that’s what we pride ourselves on and externally, I know the crowd will support Sandro. I’d encourage them to show him love because he needs it at this moment.”

What does his mid-term, long-term future at Newcastle United look like now?

“The same as it was before. There is no difference. There are different ways to look at this. He is currently adapting to a huge change in his life, from Italy to England and the change in football is a real one. The English game is very very intense and different. He is adapting and he is learning and he is improving.

“His recent performances have been very good but there is loads more to come. His short term is he will continue to adapt. We will see what happens outside of the pitch but nothing changes. Our aim is to get him to his best level and I’m very confident he will get there.”

How much tougher is losing your star signing going to make this season for you?

“Football is never easy and there are always challenges. There are always things put in front of you that make it more difficult and this is one of them. We have to try and navigate around it and come back stronger.”

Has Sandro indicated he wants this dealt with quickly?

“We’ve not discussed things in terms of time. We’ve discussed deeper issues than the speed of what will happen”.

Does he want a future here?

“That’s not even been discussed because that’s a “yes” on both sides. We will support him and back him and we see him being part of our team for many years, and I know that’s the same back from his side to us. There are some things I feel you don’t have to say. We are committed to him long term.”

Club stance? You will pay for this - is that fair?

“It’s a difficult one for me to comment on. That is one for Dan and people above me to answer”

You expect legal action?

“I don’t know. I’m not involved in those conversations.”

With this on horizon, would you not expect a new signing to tell you before signing a contract?

“I’m not going to answer that question.”

Would you have entertained signing a player who potentially faces a lengthy ban less than four months later?

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it. I can’t act on hindsight. We are acting on seeing the player play, loving what he did on the football pitch, and signing him.”

“Have you and the club been let down?

“No, I don’t deal with those emotions. I deal with the problem and then try to find a solution.”

When was the first time you saw Sandro after everything came to light and was it a one on one and was he very emotional?

“We had a conversation on the phone and I can’t remember the day I saw him but it was emotional. He is a young lad in a very difficult moment and a difficult situation and when you see things behind this arena, you have a totally different perception of events.

“I understand the media’s perception of events, I see the person, I see the human, I see the pain and the distress so it’s a very different way of seeing the same situation. That’s why my thoughts are always with the player and making sure we look after him.”

Does he love the game and is he devastated by what has happened?

“He loves the game and he is absolutely devastated and his thoughts are with Newcastle and his thoughts are with us, the team and all those emotions, our thoughts are with him. Hopefully between us we can make it work.”

He is looking at a potential ban, has he got his head around it?

“I think it is too early to talk about things we don’t know.”

Are lengthy bans the best way to combat the gambling issue in football?

“Without really analysing it and going too deep into it, I don’t really want to answer that. I don’t think I’m an expert on what the punishments should be for players.

Has he admitted exactly what he’s done?

“I haven’t had those conversations. I try to look at it purely from a psychological perspective and a footballing level. I leave those conversations for other people.

Difficult for him to be on the front pages in Italy?

“I’m sure it’s been incredibly difficult for him when you consider how young he is and what’s happened to him in the last few months. He wouldn’t want to be on the front pages for anything other than football. So I’m sure that’s been a totally new experience for him.”

Can Sandro use this to become a fans’ favourite?

“I think the only way he can do that is by what he does on the pitch. By showing his commitment, by showing his love and the supporters will then back that and return that love.”

Has Sandro addressed the group?

“No.”

Support this week helped him feel even more at home after being so embedded in Milan?

“This is an opportunity for us to really look after him and show him support. Actions always speak louder than words so it’s what we do will hopefully embed him into the football club even more.”

Is he a strong character?

“He is. For what he achieved in his footballing career and the clubs he’s played for, if he wasn’t a strong character, he couldn’t have got to where he is. He’s not necessarily an extrovert.

“He’s quite quiet and contained in terms of how he conducts himself, but you see a determination to do well. You see a real focus on the short-term goals so I’d love to think he can handle this. I don’t say that flippantly because he’s got a lot to take in and a lot to go through, but I see the strength within him to deal with it.”

Are other people at the club looking at the legal side?

“I’m sure the club will be doing what the club needs to do. But from my side, I can’t comment on that because I’m not party to those conversations. My conversations are with Sandro and his representatives, and trying to help him.”