Newcastle United's Italian job this week has caught the imagination of fans as the Magpies raided AC Milan to sign San Siro favourite Sandro Tonali.
The defensive midfielder would be Newcastle's sixth Italian player to represent the club in the Premier League era. As fans prepared to see what Tonali can bring to St James' Park we've taken a look back at his fellow Italians who have played for the club before him.
Davide Santon
The full-back was hailed as a special player before he arrived at Newcastle by none other than Jose Mourinho. The former Chelsea boss had looked after Santon during his time at Inter Milan.
Santon arrived on Tyneside in 2011 for €4million from Inter and was an Alan Pardew signing. The defender, who could play left-back or right-back, struggled to adjust to life in the Premier League to begin with.
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But he impressed fans and was part of the team that finished fifth in the top-flight to qualify for Europe in 2012. It wasn't always easy though and a mistake in the Benfica game in the quarter-final's of the Europa League saw Santon apologise to fans.
Santon's only goal for United came against Wigan in a 2-1 defeat before he left the club 2015 over a disagreement on playing time. He played for Inter again and AS Roma before retiring in 2022, in total he played 94 times for Newcastle.
Alessandro Pistone
Another player to swap Inter for Newcastle and life in Milan for life on Tyneside. Pistone was just 22 when Kenny Dalglish signed him from the Serie A giants.
Pistone was not a rip-roaring success at Newcastle but he also wasn't a failure either. His time at Newcastle was very much a learning curve and there seemed to be a lot of challenges for a player hardwired to defend in the Italian way, but arriving at a team playing in front of a crowd brought up on attacking football.
His first season saw him play in the United team that reached the 1998 FA Cup final but he picked up a loser's medal against Arsenal. Season two saw Pistone hit with injuries as he made just three appearances under Ruud Gullit.
Pistone struggled to strike a rapport with the Dutchman and said once: "We didn’t like each other, but I never understood why. "Generally speaking, I think he was a good coach, but when he arrived he picked up more than 10 players and cast them aside without a word."
Pistone was handed a lifeline when Gullit was sacked and replaced by Sir Bobby Robson. Pistone made 21 appearances and scored a derby goal in a 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough.
But a £3million bid from Everton in 2000 saw Robson sell the player to the Toffees and his time at Newcastle was up after 59 appearances.
Fabio Zamblera
The 6ft 4in striker arrived at Newcastle from Atlanta's youth team and was a typically strong centre-forward from Italy. However, things did not work out for the teenager on Tyneside.
The club tried to revive his career by loaning him to AS Roma and Sampdoria but in 2011 decided his number was up.
He spent time at Brescia after leaving Newcastle before dropping down the divisions in Italy. It's worth pointing out that the teenager found himself at Newcastle amid a political meltdown with Dennis Wise as transfer chief and Mike Ashley trying to sign youngsters to sell for more.
Zamblera was then thrust into training with Joe Kinnear in charge before the club were relegated in 2009. It could hardly have been the ideal environment for a young player moving to a new country.
Giuseppe Rossi
Glenn Roeder signed Rossi on loan from Manchester United in the summer of 2006. The 5ft 8in striker would make just 11 appearances for the Magpies before being sent back to Old Trafford.
His only goal came in a 3-0 win over Portsmouth in the Carling Cup fourth round when he fired home with his left foot. But that was as good as it got at Newcastle.
With the forward coming in just months after Alan Shearer retired the expectations at the club remained high. Rossi left Man United for Villareal in for £6.6 million and score 54 times in Spain before moving to Fiorentina in Italy.
Quick and mobile, Rossi also won 30 caps for Italy and scored eight goals. He was hardly a bad player, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Antonio Barreca
The left-back made just one solitary appearance for Newcastle after an ill-fated loan stint from Monaco. The left-back was a Rafa Benitez signing but after coming on as sub in a 1-0 loss to Spurs at Wembley, he failed to get back on to the field again for the Magpies.
After his four minute cameo a bemused Barreca took to Instagram to insist he was doing his best but not being selected. Benitez went with Matt Ritchie or Paul Dummett ahead of him for the remainder of that season.
Benitez saying in 2019: "We were doing well and he has had no space. "But you have to pick - and you have to understand that - when you have to pick the 18 players, it depends on the players you have available, and then you have to pick one or the other one.
"I told him that I would like to give him a chance, but obviously the team was doing well."
There was no deal for the full-back at the end of his loan before Benitez left Newcastle. It proved to be one of the strangest loan signings in the club's history with nobody benefiting. Stints at Genoa, Fiorentina, Lecce and Cagliari have unfolded since for the defender.
