Sandro Tonali's San Siro Return
When Newcastle United’s Dan Ashworth travelled to Milano in late June to seal the negotiations for the transfer of Sandro Tonali, it would have been wise of him to check out the city for the best hotel for his team to stay in a couple of months later. Whether Champions League draws are somehow fixed or that’s just how the script goes, football heritage indicates that ex-players are usually drawn against their former teams at some point in the competition.
Tonali had been a cult hero to the Milan fans. His father was a Milan ultra, and he grew up a Milan supporter. When he joined Milan — initially on loan — he was happy to share photos from his childhood in a Milan kit, and a letter he wrote as a child declaring his dream to play for Milan one day. He even called his idol growing up, Gennaro Gattuso, to request his permission to wear his number eight shirt.
The story fit perfectly, and Tonali seemed set for a long stay at his club. Except that it didn’t quite work out that way. He felt the pressure of playing at San Siro too much, and the emotional burden of playing for the club he supported weighed him down. His first season was so underwhelming that Milan re-negotiated the terms of his loan deal with Brescia, and signed him permanently on cheaper terms. Tonali had to take a pay cut as well.
The next season, everything clicked. Suddenly, he became the metronome of the side. If Franck Kessie gave the legs, Ismaël Bennacer gave the class, and Rade Krunić gave the tactical intelligence, then Tonali gave a bit of everything. He was the constant partner to all of them, adding the balancing act to the characteristics of his teammates.
His affection to Milan’s colors alone endeared him to the fans, but his personality and performances soon elevated him to cult hero status. He grew as a leader, showed a lot of heart and determination, and his goals in the run up to the scudetto against Lazio and Verona forever etched him in Milan’s history.
But then, modern football happened. Newcastle United popped up with their riches and made Milan and Tonali an offer they couldn’t refuse. Suddenly, he found himself in gloomy Newcastle with his girlfriend trying to convince him of the great size of Newcastle United’s gym.
He may have never expected to be back at San Siro so soon, but the kind of reception he would get was never in doubt. After all, Tonali wasn’t the first Milan hero to return to San Siro. All of the previous ones had received glorious homecomings.
Manuel Rui Costa departed Milan in 2006 to go back home to where it all began, to Benfica. One season later, with Milan the new European champions, the small Champions League balls drew Benfica with Milan in the group stage. Rui Costa was back at San Siro to a hero’s welcome. The fans sang his name, applauded him profusely, and gave him a night he’ll always remember.
But if Rui Costa’s departure seemed natural and amicable, Ricardo Kaká’s was something else. A Milan legend still at the top of his game, Kaká had pledged loyalty to the rossoneri at every chance. When in January 2009, newly cashed Manchester City made his signing their priority, Milan considered selling their superstar for the first time. His salary weighed heavily on their balance sheet, and a world record transfer fee made Adriano Galliani, Milan’s general manager, nudge Kaká towards the exit door.
But Kaká wouldn’t be swayed. In a famous scene, many Milan fans went to Kaká’s home to beg him to stay. Kaká came out from the window holding a Milan shirt and bumping his hand on his heart. It was a scene out of a movie. And as it turned out, perhaps it was really an act, as Kaká was gone six months later for a lower transfer fee, but to European football royalty Real Madrid and not the nouveau riche from Manchester.
Again, the Champions League draw immediatly pinned Milan and Real Madrid together in one group. Kaká would return to his previous home, to the place where he had won the Ballon d'Or and the Champions League, and the reception didn’t disappoint. The Milanisti don’t forget their heroes, and they don’t condemn their departure. Kaká received a welcome worthy of a Milan legend; the fans sang his coro, gave him a standing ovation, and showed him the affection he deserved.
So then, it was no surprise that Tonali would get the same treatement. As soon as he stepped out on the pitch to warm up, the Milan fans started cheering. They sang his name during the match, and gave him a standing ovation when he was subbed off.
The legendary Roman singer Antonello Venditti, the man behind Roma’s anthems Grazie Roma and Roma Roma Roma, famously sang “certi amori non finiscono” — certain loves never end. Milan’s Galliani borrowed that phrase to describe the constant links to Kaká once his Madrid stint went south.
Kaká ended up returning to Milan in 2013, as did Andriy Shevchenko before him. Shevchenko never played against Milan after his departure, but he did coach against them with Genoa and the fans showed him all the love. A special banner was unveiled for him and his chant echoed throughout the San Siro.
Even Zlatan Ibrahimović returned to Milan in 2020 after his departure in 2012. A nomad whose career took him through Malmö, Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, and LA Galaxy, yet he called Milan his home and went back in their hour of need. Incidently, him and Tonali both shed tears at his farewell in last season’s final match, and Ibrahimović was in the stands to support his previous teammates as Tonali made his San Siro return with Newcastle.
After the match, Tonali expressed that he still holds Milan dear in his heart, whether he’s playing for Brescia, Milan, or Newcastle. As he left the San Siro pitch on the 72nd minute mark, the entire stadium stood to its feet and applauded their former cult hero. He looked clearly moved.
Football remains primarily a business, as Tonali’s move to Newcastle clearly demonstrated. But no one knows what the future holds, maybe one day he’ll make a return to his home, like those before him. After all, certi amori non finiscono.