Sajith Balakrishnan

How Sandro Tonali’s wife is putting the revamped Benton HQ in spotlight

AC Milan, Newcastle United, Sandro Tonali

Sandro Tonali, who completed a record a switch from Italian powerhouse AC Milan to Premier League title contenders Newcastle United recently is making waves both on and off the pitch.

It isn’t just Tonali himself who is making news on social media, but also his girlfriend Juliette Pastore.

Pictures of him and Pastore, who is a fashion designer and model visiting the recently renovated Newcastle training centre at Benton along with Tonali have gone viral on social media.

As Tonali and his partner were taken through a guided tour of the new facilities which included a modern players’ lounge, a brand new dining area, refurbished changing rooms, renovated presentation rooms, Pastore was completely blown away by the ambience at Benton.

So shocked and surprised was Pastore to see the advanced facilities, that after seeing the gym, she is heard asking Tonali if it is much bigger and better than Milan.

But Tonali did not get carried away and is seen replying that Milan facilities are as good as the one at Benton. Since their conversation was in local language, the Italian media event went to the extent of reporting that Tonali said facilities like gym are bigger in Milan compared to Newcastle.

It is worth mentioning that a consortium of the royal family in Saudi Arabia, who took over Newcastle has been investing a lot in the Tyneside-based club – be it in terms of high-class training facilities or high-quality players, who can help them realise goal of winning a Premier League title.

Tonali’s much-hyped move to Newcastle has created waves back home as according to insiders, after the transfer, the 23-year-old has become the richest footballer in Italy.

Magpies boss Eddie Howe was so keen on having Tonali at the Magpies as he became Newcastle’s first marquee signing of the summer transfer window.

Newcastle owners are planning to construct a new state-of-the art training centre in the near future, but for the time, they have done an extensive renovation of the present one at Benton and Pastore’s expression summed it up nicely.

Pastore is a fashion model, who also owns a company named Juliette.24 Club, which specialises in re-designing second-hand clothes. She is an instant celebrity in social media with millions of followers on Instagram.

Tonali and Pastore have been dating since 2019, according to Italian media reports.

For Tonali, the switch from Serie A to Premier League could perhaps be a redefining moment in his fledgling football career.

After having started his career in Brescia in the lower rungs of Italian League, he was loaned to Serie A giants AC Milan, where his career really took off. The Rossoneri then made the loan movement permanent as he cast a magic spell with Milan and Serie A.

It’s over to Premier League and Newcastle now. Going by the way Pastore has been blown away just by seeing by the training facilities and gym, fans and Twitterati will be curious to know as to what will happen once the fashion diva steps on to a football ground! Wait out and watch!