Italian expert shares the English player who Sandro Tonali plays just like

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Italian journalist Alessandro Schiavone has given Newcastle United fans every reason to get excited with his assessment of Sandro Tonali.

Sandro Tonali‘s big-money move to Newcastle from AC Milan is expected to be completed this weekend.

Newcastle fans are aware of Tonali’s reputation and know that we’re getting a top player, but Italian journalist Alessandro Schiavone was asked by the BBC what type of player Newcastle are getting and his response paints the picture of a world-class talent.

Schiavone has called Tonali the ‘complete midfielder’

Schiavone said: “He has so much quality. I would say he’s the complete midfielder. You have midfielders who are good going forward, who are good at breaking up play, he has everything.

“At the beginning of his career people compared him to Andrea Pirlo. Let’s be honest here, he’s no Pirlo, he doesn’t have his passing accuracy, he doesn’t have that finesse on the ball, or maybe the ability to dictate the play, curling freekicks, no, but all the other things he has, yeah.

“He’s got good passing range, he’s very unselfish, he’s good on the ball and off the ball, his anticipation skills, obviously – he always sees things before they pan out. He’s good in tight spaces, he’s good at breaking up play.

“He’s a Declan Rice kind of player, he’s there and he knows when to put the boot in and he also has that speed of thought to know when to switch and turn a defensive situation into an offensive one.

“He doesn’t need to look at his teammates at times to know where they are because his understanding of the game and of his surroundings are exceptional.”

Tonali is already fantastic but there’s scope for him to get even better

At just 23, Tonali has plenty of time to work on those areas where he falls short of Pirlo, if that’s the type of player he wants to become.

Schiavone said he’s more like Declan Rice which means we could end up with that Rice-like player we wanted but for much less than the £100million West Ham are demanding for the England international.

Although I’d rather he continues on the current path. Pirlo was immense, but striding forward with the ball wasn’t exactly his forte, whereas Tonali can do that as well as sitting back and absorbing the opposition attack. He’s the best of both worlds.

He showed in the Italy vs France game last night in the Under 21 European Championship that he can strike an excellent dead ball too.

With Newcastle set to tie him down to a six year contract we could end up getting the absolute best from Tonali as he continues to learn and grow into a world-class player.