Sandro Tonali, Newcastle United’s Italian import, impresses in his unexpected debut

NEWCASTLE: Italian is known by many as the language of love — and while it's the spoken word that does the trick for most, it's the footballing feet of a Milanese import, that has Eddie Howe head over heals.

You can keep your flowers and chocolates, Sandro Tonali's Newcastle United debut has the Geordie nation struck by Cupid's bow.

The 23-year-old was handed an unexpected debut at St. James' Park on Saturday evening, and while pundits aplenty had written off the player's talents, Howe, in secret, knew exactly what was in store.

For 92 minutes the midfielder glided across the Tyneside turf, wowing with his range of passing and ability to dictate. He sped the game up when it needed it, and slowed it down similarly when so required. It takes a special kind of footballer to do that, especially in a new country, new league, speaking a new language and alongside teammates he only met five short weeks ago.

Calls had been for Sean Longstaff, the Magpies' stalwart to get to nod against Aston Villa, Howe had other ideas. And a 5-1 win, in which Tonali bagged the opener, proved why Howe makes the big bucks and was earmarked by Saudi chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan as the man to take United forward in 2021 ahead of his opposite number Unai Emery.

"We pursued him for a long, long time and paid a big fee for him because I fell in love watching him play a game last year," said head coach Howe.

"He is an outstanding talent, he can do a little bit of everything. Very similar to our other midfielders, he’s got a combination of a lot of attributes that will suit the Premier League. This is one game, I don’t want to go over the top and put more pressure on him but it’s a very good start and I’m just pleased he looked confident in the shirt