Eddie Howe says he has ‘fell in love’ with Newcastle United £52m summer signing

Eddie Howe has admitted to falling in love with Sandro Tonali after the Italian stole the show on his Newcastle United debut.

The £52million summer signing was handed his first Premier League start for the opener against Aston Villa and opened the scoring within six minutes after volleying home Anthony Gordon’s cross.

Villa swiftly equalised through a player previously tracked by Howe, Moussa Diaby, before Tonali delivered the cross that led to Alexander Isak restoring the Magpies’ lead.

Isak added his second on the hour-mark. Substitute Callum Wilson netted a fourth on 77 minutes when Tonali played a ball in behind to Harvey Barnes, who found the England international inside the box.

Barnes himself got on the scoresheet before Tonali left the pitch to a standing ovation.

“It was a tough decision between him [Tonali] and Sean [Longstaff] but in the end it was based on fitness really,” said Howe. “Sean had missed a lot of pre-season with a niggly injury and Sandro completed all of pre-season. So basing it on that and how well Sandro had done in pre-season that’s why I made the decision.

“And I thought he was magnificent for us. The goal helped, it builds confidence. It certainly looked at home in the midfield. I thought his style was really effective for us today. He’s an incredible technician, very good technically off both feet. Great to see him score and in the box in that moment.”

Howe told reporters how he had fallen in love with the 23-year-old after watching him at AC Milan last season.

“We pursued him for a long, long time and paid a big fee for him because I fell in love watching him play a game last year,” Howe added. “He is 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 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 very good start and I’m just pleased he looked confident in the shirt and the fans have certainly taken to him, which is great to see.”