It was 8.30pm on Saturday night when the Italian football team’s official international twitter account posted a message for its most recent export to English football. “Howay the Lad!” it said simply, above a picture of Sandro Tonali in his Italy strip.
A week earlier, Tonali had sat in Portofino’s restaurant in Newcastle’s city centre with David Ginola for a video shoot for Nike. There was a ham and pease pudding stottie and a pasty for him to try and a list of cards alongside the local delicacies, with Geordie phrases on to help the 23-year-old settle into his new home.
“Do you know in Newcastle they speak a different language?” Ginola said to Tonali. Prompting cards were held up. “Wey aye, man,” Tonali said,
