Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali is expected to make his return to competitive football during the side’s League Cup fixture against Nottingham on Thursday as his 10-month ban for breach of betting rules ends on Wednesday.
The Italian midfielder was slapped with a ban for betting on fixtures of AC Milan and Brescia, during his time in Serie A for the clubs before his move to England.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe expressed that having served the penalty, the midfielder could feel ready for the next phase of his career.
“Probably a lot of excitement — you feel like you are at the next stage of your career really,” Howe began.
“When you have a long period of time out, (you have) a long time to think, analyze and reflect,” he added.
“I’m sure he’s done all of those things and now he’s doing what he loves, which is playing football and that will be an incredible release for him.”
Tonali has been training with Newcastle for a while now and according to reports he was involved in a behind-closed-doors meeting with Burnley as a referee.
Howe added that Tonali has been mindful of his fitness during his time off and just needs play time to get regain full-match fitness.
“He’s fit, he just doesn’t have the match (fitness), the bigger spaces, the 11 vs. 11. Every footballer will tell you what is the most important thing – the game time,” Howe said.
“But he’s done everything else, has completed all the training for a long period of time, he’s worked incredibly hard with the sports-science team to be on top of his fitness and make sure he’s fitter than when he got banned,” the manager continued.
The return of Tonali would no doubt bolster Newcastle in their campaign as the Italian brings his technical quality to the Magpies and Howe opined that the midfielder just has to stick to his strengths to begin his return.
“I think he understands that, we understand that. It’s small steps,” Howe said.
“I think for us, we just expect him to be himself and play his game,” the 46-year-old added.
“He is a very intelligent footballer, a very good technician. He has to play to his strengths and not do anything out of the ordinary — that will be hugely effective for us,” Howe signed off.
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