Newcastle United cannot be blamed for Sandro Tonali's gambling addiction.

That is the view of Neil Whitbread, who spent nearly 25 years working with the Metropolitan Police in London.

Whitbread is now an investigations manager for the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), which involves working with clubs to do due diligence on new signings.

“It would have been extremely difficult for Newcastle to have found out about Tonali's gambling addiction or any breaches of gambling rules," he told Training Ground Guru.

"The old days of players going into betting shops and being recognised are long gone

"They can do everything on their phones. To set up an account with a bookmaker, all you need are your bank details and an email address. That information remains private between you and the bookie. Who else is going to know?"

He added: "For those people saying that Newcastle failed to do their due diligence, I'd say It's easy to create soundbites from the safety of your keyboard without knowing all the facts or the processes that were undertaken."