Sandro Tonali return boost as Newcastle United 'new signing' claim made

The midfielder is understood to have featured in a session against Burnley on Wednesday. The match was never officially confirmed by Newcastle and the result will not be disclosed by the club.

But Tonali’s involvement comes after missing the friendly against SpVgg Unterhaching at Adidas Headquarters as he heads into the final month of his 10-month betting ban. He was unable to feature in the match as it had to be officially registered with the respective clubs’ Football Associations with it taking place at a neutral venue.

The Italian joined Newcastle last summer for £52million from AC Milan but hasn’t featured in a competitive match for Newcastle since last October.

He is set to return to competitive action against Tottenham Hotspur on September 1 with his ban officially expiring on August 29.

Tonali is unable to play in official friendly matches but can play in in-house training ground practice matches behind closed doors. Such matches will not be announced or reported by the club with training ground matches growing increasingly common, and in Newcastle’s case, relevant due to allowing Tonali to play ahead of his official return.

Earlier this month Burnley confirmed that they would be facing Newcastle in a training ground match but The Magpies have made no official reference to the match.

But with Tonali’s return edging closer, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe expressed his excitement - even deeming it ‘like signing a new player’. Now Tonali is training with a view to earning a place in the starting line-up for the Spurs game.

“He’s getting closer and I think we can see that in his general demeanour, he feels very much part of the group which he has been anyway but I think there is more of a definitive action in him now because he knows he is competing for a place again,” Howe said.

“Of course there will be a short time where he won’t be available but then he will be and it’ll be like signing a new player all over again.”

Tonali won’t be involved in Newcastle’s trip to face Hull City on Saturday (2pm kick-off) as well as the two matches in Japan next week and the Sela Weekender double header ahead of the new season.