Milan’s Coach in the Dark: Says He Had No Clue About Tonali’s Gambling Habit

AC Milan’s manager Stefano Pioli said he had no clue that Sandro Tonali had a gambling problem.

The Italian national team player joined Newcastle for $79 million last summer. But by October, he was slapped with a 10-month ban for illegal sports betting while he was at Milan.

The ban raised eyebrows among the fans, who wondered if Milan knew about the investigation but kept quiet to seal the deal with Newcastle.

“Even if I feel I have an open relationship with the players, I only talk to them about football. What they do outside, I don’t know everything about them. His football quality and tactical quality, technical, physical quality, there’s no doubt about him. He’s a great player”, Pioli said.