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Sandro Tonali is a man in form at the moment ahead of Newcastle United’s clash with Aston Villa.
The Italian really made an impact the last time these two sides met at St James’ Park, scoring within minutes of his debut for the club to help his side to a 5-1 win over the Villains. Whilst that was the perfect start for Tonali on Tyneside, a 10-month ban for breaching betting rules soon followed with the Italian having to remain patient for a route back into the starting XI upon his return.
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However, Tonali has now been able to have a run of games and has looked very impressive, particularly alongside Bruno Guimaraes in the midfield. £55m to sign him from AC Milan was not an insignificant amount of money for Newcastle to spend on Tonali and whilst it took a little longer than hoped to see a return on investment, Tonali’s performances against Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Brentford recently have all reminded everyone of his great qualities as a footballer.
There have even been comparisons between Tonali and another great Italian midfielder, Andrea Pirlo. In fact, these comparisons were put to Eddie Howe, with United’s head coach finding it hard to disagree: “When I first saw Sandro play, there were definite links to Pirlo without a doubt - and it's not just the hair. There's more to it than that,” Howe admitted.
“He's definitely got those similar qualities in terms of build and style, but I think the thing that set Sandro apart, for me, from anyone else was he could do all of those things technically and tactically looked really good, but it's his athleticism as well, his ability to run. I think we've seen that in recent games from a defensive viewpoint now more than an attacking viewpoint, where he's sprinting to put out fires for us from a defensive viewpoint, nicking balls, intercepting balls, using his athleticism to track runners. I think he's been excellent in that respect and think that's really helped the team.
“Yes, there are the obvious ones [comparisons] in terms of his technique and his passing and everything else, but I think that's the thing that sets him apart.”
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