Newcastle boss Eddie Howe says fans have to give new signing Sandro Tonali time

Eddie Howe insists Newcastle have signed the right type of midfielder in Sandro Tonali and says it will take time for the Italian to show his best self, revealing he has trained only once with his team-mates in a month.

The Magpies paid Milan £52million for the 23-year-old international in the summer, and the player confessed on his return to the San Siro in the Champions League this week that he had felt ‘lost’ following the move.

Tonali received a noisy and heartfelt welcome from the home fans - Howe says that is an indicator of his pedigree - but he was subdued during his 72 minutes of a goalless draw.

Newcastle’s midfield has been the subject of much analysis this season, with many believing they needed to sign a holding player to anchor the engine-room.

But Howe had no time for that theory when it was presented to him on Friday.

‘Not in my opinion, no,’ he said when asked if his team was lacking a holding midfielder, a No.6. ‘We’ve got three players who can play that position, so I didn’t want to add a fourth.’

Tonali enjoyed a brilliant debut against Aston Villa - scoring after six minutes of a 5-1 win - but has failed to reach that level since. What does Howe want him to be in his midfield?

‘I want him to be himself, which is an outstanding technician, a very good athlete,’ he said. ‘For me, he can play all of the positions in midfield. But we need to give him time. I don’t think we can judge him, or any signings, within a month. Let’s take our time and be patient, because I know the quality of the player that we have.’

He added: ‘There is no doubt we can get the best out of him. In the short period of time he has been here, his performance against Aston Villa was high level. There was no surprise that performance came