It is fantastic to see Sandro Tonali back in action for Newcastle United.
Tonali is already making an impact for Newcastle, albeit the sample size remains small.
The midfielder impressed during the Carabao Cup win over Nottingham Forest last month and later delighted Eddie Howe with a cameo during the victory against Tottenham before the international break.
He was then hailed by Italy manager Luciano Spalletti for his performance during their Nations League win over France, further underlining just how impressive a return to action it’s been for Tonali. Indeed, that’s without even mentioning his stunning assist for teammate Federico Dimarco…
Newcastle teammate and newly-appointed team captain Bruno Guimaraes was delighted to see Tonali back on the international stage.
Bruno Guimaraes reacts as Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali stars for Italy
After the win in the Parc des Princes, Tonali took to Instagram to write: “Wearing these colors is always special, even more so with this group. Keep it up.”
In response, Guimaraes wrote: “Love you brother.”
Bruno Guimaraes delighted to have Sandro Tonali back for Newcastle
Guimaraes and Joelinton serenaded Tonali in the tunnel at St James’ Park after the win over Tottenham, such has been their delight with his return.
On paper, the three make for a star-studded midfield trio. It didn’t always work last season of course but, again, there weren’t too many games from which to draw a definitive conclusion.
The hope will of course be that having Tonali in training over the past few months will have helped Howe develop a system in which all three can flourish.
If they do, Newcastle have a real chance of a significant improvement this season. There’s clearly no guarantee of that and the real tests will come as we move through the campaign but the early signs are certainly promising.
Should Tonali, Guimaraes and Joelinton click into gear, Newcastle have quite the midfield available to them.
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