The £47m midfielder who Newcastle United could land as dream Sandro Tonali replacement

What’s the point in having friends in oily places if you can’t call on them for a favour every now and again? Newcastle United, play thing of the Saudi royals, find themselves in a bit of a bind amid increasing expectations that summer signing Sandro Tonali will be banned for a prolonged period of time as a consequence of an Italian investigation into alleged breaches of betting regulations in professional football. Thankfully for the Magpies, their sovereign owner shouldn’t have too many issues when it comes to sourcing a suitable short-term replacement.

Naturally, being the richest club on the planet, Newcastle could simply go out and purchase a Tonali 2.0, but then, of course, they would be left caring for a superfluous heap of flesh and bone come the end of the season, when the Lombardian midfielder is forecast to return from his likely suspension.

Another proffered solution, therefore, has been to seek a loan deal, and where better to look than in one of the Crown Prince’s various other toyboxes? Infamously, the Saudi Pro League has hoovered up a considerable glut of talent from the European game in recent months, and by the law of averages, it is inevitable that at least one of these splurges yielded a player capable of easing Newcastle’s woes.

Take for instance, Ruben Neves. The Portuguese midfielder, now under the employ of state-owned Al-Hilal alongside Neymar and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (another viable Toon option, by the way), left Wolves over the summer to a chorus of disbelieving heartache. At 26, he is thoroughly in his prime, and while the perception of Middle Eastern football as a cash cow retirement home for illustrious has-beens is waning somewhat, it was still hard to Sheikh (sorry) the feeling that he was walking away from the revered limelight of the Premier League far too soon.

Last term, Neves ended the campaign as both Wolves’ top scorer and their most proficient tackler. With the exception of deputy goalkeeper Dan Bentley, who registered just two outings in the Premier League, he boasted the highest match rating of anybody at Molineux, as per stats guru Whoscored, and in the approximations of many, was Wanderers’ Player of the Season. By the time the January transfer window lumbers over the horizon he will have been in Saudi Arabia for six months, give or take. After such a brief sojourn, you would assume that he could slot right back into the English game with minimal fuss and maximum effectiveness.

Of course, Neves would not necessarily be the closest like-for-like replacement that Newcastle could recruit. Compared to Tonali, the Al-Hilal star is more defensively-minded, and his profile is probably nearer to that of a traditional number six. That being said, he is evidently no slouch in an attacking or creative sense, and there is no reason why if he were to come in Eddie Howe couldn’t simply nudge Bruno Guimaraes a little further up the field. Either way, the Magpies would have a world class talent at the base of their engine room, and another pulling the strings from a more advanced position.

And then there are the ambitions of the player himself. When Neves left Wolves over the summer, he spoke with candour about the financial realities that motivated his move. Ultimately, it was a bloated wage packet that convinced him to snub interest from Barcelona and instead move to the Middle East for around £47 million.

With that in mind, you would presume that it might be difficult to prise him away from Saudi Arabia on a permanent basis any time soon. But a loan deal is a different matter entirely. A temporary agreement would allow him to maintain his income while also affording him the opportunity of playing in the Premier League once again. Some would argue that is the best of both worlds.

Whether Newcastle do, in the end, decide to use their Saudi influence as a means of solving the looming issue of Tonali’s probable absence remains to be seen. If they do, however, they are far, far worse options they could look at than Ruben Neves.