Sandro Tonali AC Milan number already taken by former £15.5m Newcastle United transfer target

Tonali joined Newcastle from Milan for an Italian record £52million plus add-ons, agreeing an initial five-year deal at St James’ Park.

Last week, AC Milan announced the signing of Ruben Loftus-Cheek from Chelsea for a reported £15.5million plus add-ons. The 27-year-old midfielder previously attracted interest from Newcastle, who reportedly enquired about his availability to Chelsea among other players such as Conor Gallagher and Christian Pulisic.

Loftus-Cheek has signed a four-year deal at the San Siro.

Following the confirmation of Tonali’s move to Newcastle, Milan quickly confirmed that Loftus-Cheek would be wearing the No. 8 shirt just vacated by the Italian international.

Tonali’s shirt number at Newcastle is yet to be confirmed with No. 15 currently the lowest unoccupied number available in the squad. No. 20 is also available following Chris Wood’s transfer to Nottingham Forest while No. 3 and No. 18 are also technically available with Paul Dummett’s and Loris Karius’ contract expiring last week.

The Geordie defender and German goalkeeper have been offered new deals by Newcastle which are yet to be agreed. The Gazette understands Dummett is likely to sign a new deal while Karius will assess his options after playing just one competitive match - the Carabao Cup final - last season.

Tonali wore the No. 8 shirt in each of his three seasons at AC Milan and wore the No. 4, No. 30 and No. 34 shirts while at Brescia as a youngster.