There were 308 days between Sandro Tonali s 12th appearance for Newcastle and his 13th as the £55m midfield made his long-awaited comeback from his self-inflicted football ban in the Carabao Cup clash against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
Firmly in the Like A New Signing camp usually reserved for players returning from long injury absences, manager Eddie Howe said earlier this week that Tonali feels as though he needs to repay everyone for the trust we ve shown in him having missed the majority of his first season starting with what the Italian will have felt like was his second debut for the Magpies.
The first landed him the Toonali moniker courtesy of the Newcastle fans, whose concerns over his hefty transfer fee were immediately put to bed.
As debuts go…