Newcastle United’s season is up and running and now there is cause to put the stress of the summer transfer window to bed and look only ahead at what Eddie Howe and his squad can achieve this year.

The summer signings, after all, have bedded in nicely, and that’s without even considering Yoane Wissa, who joined from Brentford for £55m this summer and has yet to train or play for the Magpies as he recovers from a knee injury. November is the time slated for the striker’s return.

Newcastle’s squad is populated with varying talents, some more prominent than others. All are together, though, and they play their roles with a consummate ease that many Premier League rivals fail to establish.

But the rise of St. James’ Park over the past four years has seen some truly elite players take the leading positions in Howe’s set-up.

Newcastle's star players

Alexander Isak left Newcastle and signed for Liverpool for a British record fee of £125m on deadline day. A bitter transfer saga, but Newcastle have adapted and have shown signs in recent matches of a return to their full attacking capacity.

Wissa is joined by club-record £69m signing Nick Woltemade in leading the line, and between them, the Toon surely have enough firepower to concern their rivals in the fight for a Champions League finish and a battle for more silverware after getting a taste last year.

Now that Isak has left, it is time for the 24-year-old Anthony Gordon to step up and lead the frontline. The left-sided forward is physical and dynamic, but he has lacked fluency over the past year, having been awarded Newcastle’s Player of the Year for 2023/24 after scoring 12 goals and supplying 11 assists in all competitions.

Newcastle might want to keep onto that one. We all know his talent, with the likes of Liverpool actually sniffing around in the past for the £100m-valued Englishman.

And Gordon’s not the only one. Club captain Bruno Guimaraes would also fetch a pretty penny if sold in the near future, himself priced at £100m earlier in the year, when Manchester City registered their interest.

But there’s actually another Toon star who could be the outfit’s next £100m star. Indeed, Sandro Tonali’s meteoric rise has been a remarkable thing.

The rise of Sandro Tonali at Newcastle

One year into Tonali’s time at Newcastle, things weren’t exactly looking peachy. Eight Premier League appearances were all he made in 2023/24 before being charged in October 2023 for betting offences in Italy. He was suspended from professional football for ten months.

Having arrived from AC Milan for a £55m fee only months before, the 23-year-old was in purgatory, but he rebounded with vim and vigour last season and grew considerably in quality and squad stature when Howe placed him in the deep-sat midfield role, opening up possibilities for the multi-faceted Guimaraes and striking a new level of balance.

Five years ago, Italian journalist Carlo Garganese remarked that Tonali possessed the faculties to become a “world-class” player. Now this praise rings true across Premier League and European pitches. Now Tonali is proving he is as good as anyone in the middle of the park.

Tonali plays in a subtle way. There’s an old adage in football that the best midfielders can play through a game unobserved, but if scrutinised, you would see that everything flows through them.

Matches (starts)

36 (28)

7 (7)

Goals

4

0

Assists

2

1

Touches*

53.4

67.9

Accurate passes*

34.9 (86%)

43.4 (85%)

Chances created*

0.8

1.7

Dribbles (success)*

0.6 (59%)

0.7 (60%)

Ball recoveries*

4.9

3.9

Tackles + interceptions*

2.3

2.6

Ground duels (won)*

3.3 (55%)

3.4 (60%)

This is true in the case of the Italian, now 25 years old. And he is earning attention. Pundit Paul Scholes remarked earlier this week that he’s “better than Declan Rice” – and that’s quite a claim.

Given that Rice joined Arsenal from West Ham United for £105m in 2023, there’s no reason why PIF couldn’t justify a similar ballpark for Tonali, if and when he is sold. With this in mind, he might even eclipse the valuations of peers like Gordon and Guimaraes.

Tyneside correspondent Mark Carruthers said only last month, “He’s the best midfielder I’ve seen in 38 years of watching Newcastle.”

Apologies, Bruno, but this might actually be true. If Guimaraes is a £100m player, then what does that make the Italian maestro?