Alan Shearer had high praise for Sandro Tonali following his impressive Newcastle debut in their 5-1 win over Aston Villa, calling him ‘the star of the show’.
The 23-year-old Italian midfielder completed a €70m move from Milan to the Magpies last month and started in their Premier League season opener against the Villans, seeing almost the full 90 minutes of action at St James’ Park.
Tonali shined in his Newcastle debut, scoring the opener after six minutes, and impressed with his midfield performance, completing 48 of his 54 passes and taking 66 touches. His work immediately excited the fans, setting a high bar in his first Premier League outing.
On Match of the Day, Newcastle legend Shearer showered praise on Tonali, underlining the perfect nature of his debut at St James’ Park.
“There were some impressive performances today at St James’ Park from some Newcastle players, I thought Gordon was superb, Isak was magnificent, Harvy Barnes… when he came on with a goal and an assist, but the star of the show – as you said – was Tonali.
“As debuts go, this is as good as it gets. It was the perfect midfield performance. Goals, assists, tackles, great range of passing, late runs into the box, timing was perfect in almost everything, getting stuck in, he really was superb…
“And how to endear yourself to the Geordie public with a performance like this.”
Gary Linekar then interjected, referencing the fee Newcastle paid Milan last month, saying: “50 million? Bargain!”. Shearer agreed, comparing the figures seen with other players this summer.
“Well, when you compare some of the prices that have been paid for midfielders – and are about to be paid – I know it’s early days for him, but it might just be a bargain… He gets a hug off the manager, and rightly so, what a magnificent start to his Newcastle career.”