Pundits hailed the performance of Sandro Tonali after Newcastle's thrashing of Aston Villa.

Tonali scored on debut in the 5-1 win.

"Newcastle fans are going to like Tonali if he keeps on playing like this," said Pat Nevin. "If you look at him and Guimaraes in midfield, that is a spectacular partnership.

"Tonali was absolutely everywhere. He has a confident arrogance about himself. Just everything he does - his cross-field balls, his comfort and confidence on the ball - he has the arrogance of [Andrea] Pirlo on the ball.

"He looks like the absolute complete midfielder. Everyone else was running around at top speed and he just seemed completely in control at every moment."

Newcastle legend Alan Shearer also: "As debuts go, this was as good as it gets - what a magnificent start to his Newcastle career.

"It was the perfect midfield performance; a goal, an assist, tackles, great range of passing, late runs into the box, getting stuck in, did his bit defensively - he was involved in almost everything.

"When you compare some of the prices that have been paid for midfielders and are about to be paid for them, I know it is early days... but he might turn out to be a bargain."