Sandro Tonali is fully focused on Newcastle United and has not been unsettled by transfer speculation linking him with Arsenal, so says Eddie Howe.

Arsenal were reported to have registered an interest in Tonali towards the end of the January transfer window.

However, the Gunners did not move forward with a bid for the Italy midfielder, who joined Newcastle from AC Milan in 2023.

Tonali has made 35 appearances for Newcastle this term, though he is yet to score. He has, however, assisted four goals and created 34 chances, which ranks behind only Bruno Guimaraes (49) in the Magpies' squad. The 25-year-old has also won 32 of his 45 tackles.

And Howe is unconcerned by Tonali's level of focus.

Ahead of Newcastle's EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Manchester City, Howe said: "As far as I'm aware, we've got a player that's an outstanding footballer, an outstanding person.

"He's very happy here, he's got a great relationship with me, his team-mates, he seems really, really happy within himself, so that would surprise me.

"But our best players will always be attracting glances from other clubs, that's just the reality of football. We want to keep the group together, we want to keep being progressive and, of course, Sandro plays a part in that, trying to hit his best levels and play as well as he can to help the team.

"All-encompassed, I don't see an issue, but as I say, I'm not in control of everything.

"He's absolutely focused on the here, the now, playing for us. His only focus, talking to him yesterday, was Manchester City and trying to win that game, so there's absolutely no issue with Sandro himself and he's very happy and he's committed.

"I find it difficult to talk about things that I don't know too much about. I can only talk about Sandro as the person and the player and his mindset here and now, having discussed things with him yesterday, and he's absolutely fine."

One player who did leave Newcastle at the end of the window was long-term club captain Jamaal Lascelles, who departed for Leicester City.