Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has revealed he signed £52million midfielder Sandro Tonali after he “fell in love” watching his play for AC Milan last season.
The 23-year-old Italy international made a stunning Premier League debut in the Magpies’ 5-1 rout of Aston Villa on Saturday evening, announcing himself in English football in style with the opening goal and a commanding engine room display.
Asked if Tonali had exceeded his expectations, head coach Howe said: “I don’t know. I wouldn’t say so because that would be disrespectful to his ability.
“We pursued him for a long, long time, paid a big fee for him because I fell in love watching him play the game last year.
“He’s 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 I think 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 really good start and I’m just pleased that he looked confident in the shirt, and the fans have certainly taken to him. That’s a great thing to see.”
Tonali set the ball rolling with the opener just six minutes into his first competitive appearance in a black and white shirt only for equally impressive Villa debutant Moussa Diaby to level in short order.
However, Alexander Isak struck either side of half-time to put the home side in control and late goals from substitutes Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes rounded off a thrilling performance.
The romp left Newcastle top of the fledgling table, although Howe admitted that was of little significance to him.
He said: “It’s nice, but it’s not important at this stage for me. The most important thing today was our performance, our attitude to the game, how we tried to deliver what we asked the players to do.
“There’s a long season ahead and we know we come back to earth quickly because we have Manchester City away next week and that’s going to be a huge challenge, so my mind is already turning to that.”
Villa’s disappointment at the way the game unravelled was compounded by what looked like a serious injury to England defender Tyrone Mings which saw him carried from the field on a stretcher before the break.
Head coach Unai Emery said: “We don’t know what’s happened with this injury, but it doesn’t look good. Tomorrow we will scan him and hopefully it is not important. We have to wait for the scan, but it doesn’t look good.”
Howe, who saw Mings suffer an anterior cruciate ligament in 2015 shortly after he had signed him for Bournemouth, said: “I have to say he faced that period out with incredible courage and resilience, and what he’s done since that moment, to go on and play for his country and be outstanding in the Premier League, is testament to that resilience.
“We certainly wish him well and I send him all my love.”
Asked if he had been shocked by his team’s performance, Emery said: “At the end, 5-1 is a little bit more than we deserved.
“They [Newcastle] deserved to win, but not like that and that with the impact of injuries this week is very, very tough. We have lost two very, very important players for today in the match and for the next weeks.”
