Newcastle have hit the jackpot on "world-class" star worth more than Tonali

Newcastle United have had no truck with ambitious strengthening over the past several years, but they know their limitations and have indeed been restricted by the Premier League‘s profit and sustainability rules.

Despite this, the Magpies have hit a rich vein of form over the past few months, winning 12 of their past 14 matches in all competitions, catching back up with the Champions League runners and confidently beating Arsenal over two legs to reach the Carabao Cup final.

Sandro Tonali‘s return and rise has been one of the major components of the success, fusing perfectly into an already dynamic and robust midfield and taking it to another level.

Sandro Tonali’s amazing progress in 2024/25

Newcastle signed Tonali from AC Milan for £55m in July 2023, but he was supposedly homesick after switching Italy for Tyneside and was then hit with the most compounding of blows in a ten-month suspension for betting breaches.

That expired around the start of the current campaign and he’s since gone from strength to strength, with podcast host Andrew Musgrove even describing him as Newcastle’s “standout” player.

But he’s not a player who’s so easily defined by his metrics. In fact, Tonali’s Premier League statistics between this term and last don’t show a sharp upswing in performance.

The Italian’s ineffable brilliance, his silky passing and sharp intelligence, are something that can only be appreciated by watching him with your own eyes.

Sandro Tonali – Premier League Stats
Match Stats*	23/24	24/25
Matches (starts)	8 (5)	22 (15)
Goals	1	1
Assists	0	1
Touches*	39.8	48.6
Pass completion	88%	85%
Key passes*	1.0	0.4
Dribble (success)*	0.4 (60%)	0.4 (56%)
Ball recoveries*	2.5	4.7
Tackles + interceptions*	1.2	2.4
Total duels (won)*	2.1 (47%)	3.6 (52%)
Stats via Sofascore ( = per game)*

£55m is starting to look like a real bargain, but truthfully, he’s not yet Newcastle’s main man, with one of his midfield partners still way ahead of him – you know who.

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Newcastle have struck gold on Howe’s main man

He’s a bit good, isn’t he? Bruno Guimaraes has been a source of strength and influence for Newcastle ever since he signed from Lyon for £40m in January 2022, one of the first to join Howe’s project.

The wellspring from which Newcastle’s football flows, Guimaraes is regarded as a “world-class” midfielder by many – such as his United manager – and has been the centrepoint of a midfield three that is so tough and tenacious, technical and tricky.

While PSR-related problems limited Newcastle last summer – and this winter – PIF will consider their retention of Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon as a total success, covering so much ground, winning so many duels and the architect of consistent playmaking direction from the centre.

It’s no wonder that Pep Guardiola was desperate to bring him to the Etihad before turning his powerful transfer cannon elsewhere, deterred by Newcastle’s £100m asking price – a fee that is woven into the Brazil international’s contract via release clause.

This is almost double the value of the above-discussed Tonali, who is a wonderful talent in his own right but undoubtedly charged by the unrelenting engine of his partner, as is bull-charging Joelinton.

Newcastle have well and truly hit the jackpot with this one. He ranks among the top 6% of midfielders in the top flight for progressive passes, the best 11% for assists per 90 minutes and the top 1% for through balls to rubberstamp his credentials as one of the best passers of a ball in English football.

A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.

Howe will hope to keep Guimaraes as the central part of the project for many years, but if he does leave, it will be for a record fee – one that could secure St. James’ Park’s future as a major player on the European scene.