Kieran Trippier recently quipped he would be taken off set pieces if Southampton's James Ward-Prowse arrived at the club, and while that move doesn't look on the cards at present, the Newcastle United skipper may still have a hard job keeping hold of the dead-ball responsibility beyond the summer.
Rather than seeking Ward-Prowse's expertise, Newcastle have instead turned to Serie A specialist Sandro Tonali to bolster their midfield. The AC Milan star is set to be confirmed as a Magpies player later this week as Eddie Howe's side get off the mark in the summer transfer window.
Tonali will offer energy, versatility and heaps of quality but also provides moments of magic from free-kicks and corners. Anyone watching the U21 European Championships in recent days will have witnessed the 23-year-old proving his worth from both.
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Tonali crossed a free-kick straight on to the head of Pietro Pellegri in Italy's opening game 2-1 defeat by France and also assisted Lorenzo Pirola from a corner in the 3-2 win over Switzerland on Sunday. Tonali also grabbed a second assist later in the narrow victory.
The summer signing may get the chance to show what he can do from free-kicks at St James' Park next season, if he can wrestle Trippier and Fabian Schar off those that fall within shooting distance. Trippier has consistently been the designated corner-taker but Newcastle struggled to utilise them towards the back end of last season.
Speaking about his set-piece confidence last season, the Newcastle right-back said: "You have to feel like that, you have to believe in yourself. If not, it's not going to come off.
Every opportunity I get, whether it's a corner or a free-kick or whatever it is, I try to put it on a sixpence for my team-mates or in the back of the net. Some go in and some don't, but hopefully I can score many more this season."
Tonali will instantly become one of Newcastle's senior men upon his arrival on Tyneside and Trippier may also lose the captain's armband to the youngster if ex-Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio's assessment comes to fruition.
“He won’t be a regular starter, there will be rotations and we can already predict it,” Di Canio said last week. “Perhaps, he will become the captain and the leader in one year, but initially he will be one of the four-five midfielders that will rotate because the Premier League is very demanding and Newcastle will play in the most important competition in Europe.”
