Ex-Liverpool man makes stunning Newcastle United and Manchester City claim following £55m transfer

The Magpies have concluded two deals so far this summer with Yankuba Minteh and Sandro Tonali joining the club from Odense Boldklub and AC Milan respectively. Whilst Minteh will spend the season on-loan at Feyenoord, Tonali is expected to play a major role in Eddie Howe’s first-team this season.

Tonali has been signed to bolster Howe’s options in the middle of the park and his versatility means he can be used in a variety of roles. With Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff all battling for a spot in Howe’s preferred midfield system, Tonali will have plenty of competition for a starting berth and former Liverpool and Newcastle midfielder Didi Hamann believes Howe has one of the best midfield trios in Premier League at his disposal. 

Speaking to Lord Ping, Hamann said: "Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton or Joe Willock is not far off the best midfield in the Premier League. The benchmark is Man City when they had Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri. 

“Tonali is a very technical player, and at Newcastle he has the quality players around him to flourish. I really like Tonali, and he adds physicality, pace and determination to this Newcastle midfield who were already great in those aspects. It feels like the whole Newcastle team is very good now, they have every basis covered and it will be great to watch them this season."

Tonali remains the only addition to the squad that ended last season and despite frustrations over a lack of movement in the transfer market, the club are still looking to be active and add to Howe’s squad this summer. One man they have been linked with throughout the window is Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney and Hamann believes a move to St James’ Park would be a good option for the Scotland international.

"Newcastle need more players in their squad because they're in the Champions League now.” Hamann said. “Kieran Tierney is a very reliable player who performs well every time he makes an appearance for Arsenal. 

“Obviously, those chances have been limited now, so I think he'd be a very good player at Newcastle. He's too good to be a squad player and needs to be starting, which he can do at Newcastle this season coming.”