(Reuters) – Newcastle United fans have embraced Italian signing Sandro Tonali with the chant he “drinks Moretti, eats spaghetti”; and they may be on to something, given he was seen dining at a budget chain pub after scoring on his debut.
The midfielder, who joined the Magpies from AC Milan last month for a reported 70 million euros ($76.55 million), triggered the chant after scoring six minutes into Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing of Aston Villa at St. James’ Park.
Newcastle’s Chronicle newspaper reported that the 23-year-old walked into a Wetherspoons pub in Gosforth on Monday night after a booking was made in his name.
A photograph of the reservation and the player posing with a fan went viral on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and was splashed across newspaper websites on Tuesday morning.
“Whether Tonali was told to go there by one of his teammates or he wanted to discover the magic of ‘Spoons’ for himself is still a bit of a mystery,” said the Chronicle as fans delighted in the possible prank.
The Wetherspoons chain is famed for cheap beer and food. The menu at the Gosforth Wetherspoons features items such as pasta Alfredo with an alcoholic drink for 10.37 pounds ($13.17), mixed grill with drink for 12.91 pounds or pizza margherita and drink for 9.82 pounds.
“150k a week and he’s on the mixed grills. Madness man,” one fan said.
“He might put in a transfer request the minute his food arrives,” said another.
($1 = 0.9145 euros)
($1 = 0.7872 pounds)
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London; Editing by David Goodman)
