When Newcastle United sign players nowadays, they are looking at the present and the future.
They look to sign players who can grow and develop at St James’ Park, whilst also having an immediate impact in the black and white of Newcastle.
That is exactly why they spent so much money on Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman and Alexander Isak. They are the spine of this new Newcastle, and that spine got even stronger over the summer.
The club spent £55million to sign Sandro Tonali from AC Milan. It was a real statement of intent, and a transfer that surprised a lot of people – including those behind the scenes at AC Milan.
Tonali enjoyed a stunning debut for the Magpies, scoring in a 5-1 win against Aston Villa. He was amazing that day, showing that he has the talent to be a difference maker already.
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However, it has been much tougher since then. The 23-year-old was particularly poor in the defeat to Brighton, and the midfield looked much more balanced whilst he sat on the bench during the win over Brentford.
Now Tonali is due to return, with the midfielder set to start against his former club AC Milan in the Magpies’ Champions League opener.
He will be desperate to impress, but Toon officials know that the best is yet to come from the Italy international.
Newcastle have extremely high hopes for Sandro Tonali
According to the Telegraph, both Howe and Newcastle officials believe that Tonali is going to become ‘one of the most dominant central midfield players in the Premier League’ in the future.
The club have such high hopes for Tonali. That is exactly why they brought him to Tyneside and agreed to spend so much money on him.
He is far from the finished article. He is a player who has so much potential, while he is yet to fully adapt to life in England.
Tonali is still getting to grips with life away from Italy, while the language continues to be an issue. But he is learning, and that will massively help him become the player Newcastle think he can be.
Just like with Isak, Bruno and Botman, Newcastle bought a player for the present and the future in Tonali. The present is exciting given his start to life at St James’ Park, but the future is absolutely tantalising.