Sandro Tonali's girlfriend Juliette Pastore has opened up about living in Newcastle, over a month after leaving sunny Milan for the North East.
Model and fashion designer Pastore travelled to Tyneside on Wednesday July 5 with Tonali as the midfielder completed his much-anticipated £55 million move from Serie A side AC Milan.
The pair were invited to the recently-transformed Benton training base soon after, where they were shown around by a member of staff. And Pastore was hugely impressed with the facilities on show.
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More than a month later, the 23-year-old digital creator has lavished more praise on her new home after she was asked a number of questions about living in Newcastle on her Instagram story.
So what did she say? Pastore said it was a dream to live in England, and wanted to "debunk" the myth that it always rains.
She said via Twitter account Sporting Minute: "Those who know me know [I've] always loved England, the English mentality etc. So for me it's a dream to live here and get to know their culture better.
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"When it comes to weather (most tagged question) I've never been a big fan of heat, sun, sea. I prefer this weather and these temperatures all my life.
"Also the myth that 'it always rains in England' needs debunking... It's raining, it's not hot, but it's not like it rains all day everyday.
"Since we've been here we've had some beautiful sunny days where temperatures were around 23/24 degrees."
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Pastore added: "I'm feeling good as I said in the previous story. Newcastle is not London, it's a city in the North of England, very distinctive but too too pretty and fascinating. It's a small but very beautiful town.
"The people here are fantastic, they are all super helpful and friendly. [It's] 15 minutes from Newcastle there are beautiful beaches and breathtaking views.
"We are three hours away from London and 90 minutes away from Edinburgh (city I can't wait to visit). I'm happy to be here and it's going to be a crazy experience!"
On the subject of culture, Sandro Tonali reserved a table at a local Wetherspoon after he impressed in a convincing 5-1 win against top-six hopefuls Aston Villa.
The Italian would later pose for pictures at The Job Bulman pub in Gosforth, with one fan even posting a picture of his 19:45 reservation on Twitter.
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Tonali, who is said to be learning English on a daily basis after training, earned huge praise from Newcastle manager Eddie Howe after his debut.
“We pursued him for a long, long time and paid a big fee for him because I fell in love watching him play a game last year,” he said at full-time. “He is an outstanding talent, he can do a little bit of everything.
"Very similar to our other midfielders, he’s got a combination of a lot of attributes that will suit the Premier League.
"This is one game, I don’t want to go over the top and put more pressure on him but it’s a very good start and I’m just pleased he looked confident in the shirt and the fans have certainly taken to him, which is great to see.”
Topics: Sandro Tonali, Newcastle United, Premier League, England