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Player analysis: Sandro Tonali (NEW)
Italy international Tonali has a skillset which should help him slot seamlessly into Newcastle United’s midfield this season.
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The 23-year-old is a tenacious operator who will add quality and dynamism to Eddie Howe’s side.
An athletic and proactive presser, Tonali drives forward and creates chances and is likely to be used in one of the twin No 8 positions either side of Bruno Guimaraes.
Ever-present
Tonali rarely misses matches through injury. In fact, no one at AC Milan played more matches or minutes than him across 2022/23.
While he is a proficient passer, Tonali is more of a ball winner that makes things happen inside the opposition half.
In Serie A last season, he won 2.1 tackles per 90 minutes, with a 64.1 per cent success rate, marrying that strength with an ability to create chances.
Over the course of 48 matches in all competitions, Tonali made an impressive 90 key passes, the highest by any Milan player.
Tonali's 2022/23 stats
| Statistic | Total | Milan rank |
|---|---|---|
| Matches | 48 | 1st |
| Minutes | 3,983 | 1st |
| Chances created | 90 | 1st |
| Assists | 9 | 2nd |
| Tackles won | 56 | 1st |
Tonali was especially impressive during Milan’s run to the UEFA Champions League semi-final.
He is a natural driving force in central midfield and showed he can make an impact as a box-to-box player at the highest level.
Regarded as workmanlike rather than a player with outstanding guile, Tonali still produced the highest number of big chances in last season’s Champions League, with nine.
Jack Grealish and Napoli’s Piotr Zielinski were the only individuals to produce more opportunities overall.
A player for the big occasions
How does Tonali make chances?
In open play he provides through-balls, crosses accurately from the right corner of the box and will break into the final third before slipping passes to team-mates.
A lot of his end product comes from corners and wide free-kicks, with six of his 11 Milan assists from set plays.
Most chances created 2022/23 in Champions League
| Chances created (set-piece chances) | Big chances created | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Grealish | 35 (4) | Sandro Tonali | 9 |
| Piotr Zielinski | 23 (8) | Kevin De Bruyne | 8 |
| Sandro Tonali | 22 (7) | Alessandro Bastoni | 6 |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 22 (4) | Mehdi Taremi | 6 |
| - | - | Federico Dimarco | 6 |
| - | - | Leon Goretzka | 6 |
Kieran Trippier is Newcastle's chief set-piece taker, creating a competition-high 76 chances from dead-balls in 2022/23.
That figure was a remarkable 33 more than second-placed James Ward-Prowse.
So, with this in mind, Tonali may have to settle for taking the occasional corner or wide free-kick, rather than being Newcastle's first choice in those situations.
Suited to Howe’s style
Tonali is capable of performing as the deepest-lying midfielder, but this would waste his ability to press opponents with conviction inside their own half.
Howe will almost certainly prefer to use him to the left or right of centre, competing with players such as Joe Willock, Joelinton and Sean Longstaff for a starting place.
Willock’s chemistry with Joelinton on the left means it is most plausible that he begins on the right of a three.
Newcastle's aggressive style of football, built around strong off the ball work that forces fast transitions and counters, is an approach Tonali is accustomed to.
Indeed, Milan played in a similar manner last season.
Newcastle v Milan attacking/defending similarities
| Newcastle | PL rank | Milan | Serie A rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passes per defensive action | 10.5 | 5th | 10.8 | 3rd |
| Direct attacks | 95 | 2nd | 87 | 1st |
| Build-up attacks | 63 | 11th | 65 | 9th |
From a technical perspective, Tonali does have improvements to make and it could take him a while to acclimatise to the speed of the Premier League.
Therefore, in the early weeks, it may be prudent for him to keep his distribution simple and move the ball on quickly.
Over time, though, Tonali should prove to be an excellent addition to Howe’s squad.
He is a title-winner with a proven big-match temperament and lots of scope for further development as a player.