The Sandro Tonali debate | NUFC Blog

Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap, Paul Scholes name-checked Sandro Tonali as the ‘best midfielder in the top flight’ ahead of the likes of Moisés Caicedo and Declan Rice.

The 25-year-old Italian is finally coming to the attention of the wider football media (in a move which is both a blessing and a curse with Tonali only having two years left on his deal) after what has been an impressive 12 months for Newcastle.

Since his return from a 10-month ban for gambling offences, Tonali has formed an impressive midfield triumvirate with Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton, which is often called one of the best midfields in Europe, put in some excellent/commanding performances for his country, and was instrumental in United ending its 70-year trophy drought as the side won the League Cup last season.

Tonali is beloved and seems to have found a real home on Tyneside, but I thought it’d be interesting to have a look at some of the data and really see if Sandro is the best midfielder in the Premier League.

Let’s begin with the broad strokes stats: since his return from the ban, Sandro Tonali has started 44 games for United in all competitions, with the side winning 22, losing 14, and drawing eight of those games. This is a very healthy win percentage of 50%, which is close to Eddie Howe’s overall win percentage at United (51.91%).

The Italian has scored six goals (four league, two cup) and provided three assists, has between 1.20 and 1.34 shots per game, and averages 80.3% pass completion per game (although this was down to a poor 62.5% against Arsenal).

So far in 2025/26, Sandro has provided 12 key passes and 42 passes into the final third and creates 3.27 shot-creating actions per 90. As be expected, Tonali has most of his touches in the middle third of the pitch (254), has drawn nine fouls, and has crossed the ball 25 times (interestingly, he only crossed the ball 54 times total last season, more than hinting at a change to his game this time around).

These are solid data for a midfielder who does the type of work Sandro is tasked with doing in this United side, although with the Italian seemingly being more involved from set pieces this season, it will be interesting to see how the data changes over the next 12 months.

There are, of course, many more data points available, but I always feel a very handy indicator of player quality is the type of player the stats compare each other to. In Sandro’s case, he’s ranked as similar to Youri Tielemans, Alexis Mac Allister, and Bernardo Silva, players who are lionised by their respective fanbases and the national media alike.

Stats are, as I always stress, just part of the equation, and where Tonali really excels are the intangibles of football. His defensive covering, reading of the game, and recovery pace are first-class. If you’re in the stands and disengage from the ball/overall match for ten/fifteen minutes and just watch Sandro as an individual, it’s incredible.

His head is always on the swivel, he covers every position on the pitch, and he never tires— he is just as capable of making a lung-busting 60-yard recovery run in the 96th minute as he is in the 2nd minute. He more than passes the vibe check on what makes an instrumental and effective footballer.

But there is some statistical data which shows just how important these intangibles are for United, and that’s ‘team success data’.

Last season, when he was in and out of the team a little, so the data is more instructive, United scored 21 more goals than they conceded with him in the side (the last time he was anywhere near as effective was when Milan won the Scudetto in 2021/22 [+36 goals]). United won 1.72 points per match when he played last season and over-performed xG by +17.9 (goals for vs goals against).

Team success data is similar with Sandro in the side this season, but it’s a much smaller sample size, but the data still shows that United are a much better team with him in it.

Speaking after the Wolves game, Eddie Howe summed up the impressive mix of data and intangibles that make Tonali such a great player when he said:

“I think that he covered every blade. He was putting out a lot of fires on transitions for us. I think he has done that superbly well. Sometimes it’s not necessarily a quality that registers immediately.

“But the number of times that he reads the game, reads where the ball’s going to drop and he’s there first, then you realise it’s a massive skill of his. His athleticism, his speed. So defensively, I think Sandro is one of the reasons why we have been so strong.

“But of course, the other side of his game, his use of the ball and his creativity, nearly scored a great goal for us. I thought it was a great performance.”

Fast forward to this week, and tongues have wagged a little during the international break with Tonali being photographed with his agent in Milan and the player himself giving a forthright interview about his future, fuelling further speculation from the Italian media.

Tonali has been linked with a return to Italy from pretty much the moment he signed for United, but he has told reporters he is happy with the ‘balance’ he has at Newcastle, but he wouldn’t rule out a return to Italy in the future.

What is absolutely clear is that with just two years remaining on his current contract, United need to get around the negotiating table with one of its best players and tie him down to a new long-term deal because at just 25 years old, there is much more room for growth in the Italian’s game.