Sandro Tonali is close to confirming his move to Newcastle United from AC Milan, meanwhile Paulo Di Canio has spoken of how he sees Tonali fitting in at St James’ Park.
Former Sunderland manager Paulo Di Canio has spoken about Sandro Tonali‘s imminent move to Newcastle and given his insight into how he can fit into how Newcastle play, and even suggested who the 23-year-old will likely replace in the starting lineup.
Speaking to Sky Sports Italia (via Football Italia) Di Canio shared that he sees Sean Longstaff being the one who makes way for Tonali in the lineup, but he doesn’t expect it to be an instant transition.
Di Canio sees Sandro Tonali becoming Newcastle’s captain
“I hope Tonali explodes soon, but he will find a physical football, with more pace. Potentially he will replace [Sean] Longstaff,” Di Canio told Sky Sport Italia on Friday afternoon.
“Tonali is accustomed to paying in a 4-2-3-1 system and will need to adapt [to 4-3-3] and understand. Newcastle have a clear view. They have signed an established player who has already won the Serie A. He is already a leader, he has played in the Champions League and Newcastle have the ambition to play at these levels for a long time.
“He won’t be a regular starter, there will be rotations and we can already predict it.
“Perhaps, he will become the captain and the leader in one year, but initially he will be one of the four-five midfielders that will rotate because the Premier League is very demanding and Newcastle will play in the most important competition in Europe.”
Longstaff had his best ever season for Newcastle last term
Wor Sean had a fantastic season for Newcastle so the idea that he could be replaced so soon seems a bit harsh, but as Di Canio says, there’ll be rotation, that’s why Newcastle are so desperate to add to the squad so that Eddie Howe has more options and so he can give new signings time to adapt.
Longstaff isn’t getting thrown on the scrap heap, and in fact I can see Willock being added to that rotation too, so Longy could find himself playing alongside Tonali at times.
In terms of becoming captain, I can see that happening but not in a year, I feel there’ll be a couple of players ahead of him in that regard when Kieran Trippier hangs up his boots, which also won’t be next year. Having said that, there’s nothing to say he won’t become part of the leadership group.
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