Sandro Tonali: The next Andrea Pirlo?
Sandro Tonali is an Italian professional footballer who plays for Italian club AC Milan, on loan from Brescia, as a midfielder. His Brescia debut came on 26 Aug 2017 against Avellino. He made 19 appearances in the 2017-18 Serie B season, scoring 2 goals and giving 2 assists. In the 2018-19 Serie B season, Tonali played for Brescia 34 times and had 10 goal involvements as he helped the club to be promoted to the Serie A. Tonali made his Serie A debut for Brescia against Cagliari in August 2019. He featured for the club 35 times, scoring 1 goal and providing 7 assists. Tonali was one of the few bright spots for Brescia in an otherwise disappointing campaign as the club were relegated to Serie B finishing 2nd bottom on the Serie A table. In total, Tonali made 89 appearances for Brescia and had a combined 22 goals and assists (6 goals and 16 assists).
After Brescia were relegated, Tonali was linked with a move to several big European clubs including Juventus, Barcelona, PSG and Inter Milan. In the end, it was AC Milan that won the race to sign Tonali. He joined AC Milan on loan with an option to buy. For the player, this transfer is an opportunity to prove himself at a bigger club. For the club, it finally looks to have a proper successor to the legend himself, Andrea Pirlo.
Sandro Tonali is compared to Andrea Pirlo on many occasions. That is because like the former AC Milan, Juventus and Italy legend, Tonali is a Regista who can play as a central midfielder or defensive midfielder. He is graceful, energetic, creative and has excellent vision. He often tries long range passes, dictates tempo and likes to try killer balls frequently. According to the game Football Manager 2020, the biggest strengths of Tonali are his determination, aggression and his work rate. Despite his talent, he is not without his weaknesses. His off the ball movement and his decision-making skills could be better. Still he is only 20 years old and has plenty of time to improve on his weaknesses. Tonali has bags of potential and if he stays injury free, he could end up as one of the best midfielders of the 2020s and win several caps for the Italian national team.
