£52m signing pictured on Tyneside ahead of Newcastle United training ground visit

Sandro Tonali has returned to Tyneside ahead of beginning pre-season with Newcastle United.

The Italian midfielder was in the North East on Wednesday and Thursday last week to complete the formalities of his £52million plus add-ons move from AC Milan.

Tonali first did some house hunting alongside his partner Juliette Pastore before visiting the club’s newly-refurbished Benton training centre, where he was spoken to by Magpies stand-in skipper Kieran Trippier.

The next day, the 23-year-old toured St James’ Park, posing for photos and conducting his first interview, before making another pit stop at the training ground to meet head coach Eddie Howe.

After jetting off for a short break, Tonali returned to the region last night and was spotted out and about in the city. One lucky fan, Tom Jolly, even managed to get a photo.

The majority of Howe’s squad, excluding those on international duty last month, returned to pre-season on July 9 and will be involved in the opening pre-season friendly at Gateshead on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 12:30pm).

Tonali, plus the likes of Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes, could be put through their paces over the weekend.

Newcastle travel to Rangers on Tuesday night before flying to the USA for the Premier League Summer Series, where they face challenging matches against Aston Villa, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Howe’s men then compete in the Sela Cup at St James’ Park. They play Fiorentina and Villarreal on back-to-back days, a week before their Premier League opener at home to Unai Emery’s Villa.