Howe to make special Tonali plan to help with boredom during 10-month ban
Eddie Howe will make a special recovery plan for Sandro Tonali to avoid "monotony" when his 10-month ban kicks in.
The Newcastle boss says Tonali, 23, has a "high chance" of playing against Wolves on Saturday - two days after the Italian Football Federation revealed his punishment for breaking gambling rules. He will also complete an eight-month rehab programme.
The Italians have slapped a season-long ban on the Newcastle midfielder in an official announcement on Thursday but have yet to ratify it. The worldwide ban, extending it to the Premier League, is administered by UEFA and FIFA.
Lawyers for Newcastle have NOT been handed the judgement, and neither the Italian Football Federation nor UEFA or FIFA had written to the club informing them of the ban when Howe spoke on Friday. That leaves Tonali free to play at Molineux.
Howe admitted, "there are a few things that have to happen before the ban is imposed". The ratification process could take days or weeks according to club sources with Howe admitting to being in "limbo".
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Howe gave his first reaction to the 10-month ban on Friday and was asked if Tonali owed the club an apology following his £54million transfer from AC Milan. He replied: "I am not going to say that he owes the club an apology to you. That conversation is between the club and Sandro and myself and I don’t think public statements are needed at this stage.
"I will have to see the whole time he will be unable to play and then work out a plan for him. It will be very very difficult for him. He will get a feeling of monotony where he is not playing and training is a difficult thing and I’ve seen it many times with players.
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"We need to keep his mind fresh and his body able to execute what he needs to do big pitch stuff. It will be a challenge for us to make sure he comes out of the period, hopefully, a better player than the player who leaves us now.
"If he is banned for that time he is going to have difficult moments in that time frame. Ten months is a long time for a professional athlete not to do what he does. Especially on the scale of the pitch. In training you can get used to small-sided games."
Newcastle could do with Tonali being available for as long as possible. Elliott Anderson is out for eight weeks with a “bizarre” back injury. Jacob Murphy sees a specialist on Friday to see if he needs an op on his dislocated shoulder. Alexander Isak is out for the next five games with a groin problem.
Howe added: "We need a squad robust enough to deal with these things. It is part of football that you never know what football will bring."
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