Sandro Tonali makes huge life announcement hours after being substituted at half time against Leeds United
Eddie Howe made the call to withdraw Sandro Tonali at halftime during Newcastle United's mind-blowing 4-3 win against Leeds United on Wednesday night.
Sandro Tonali hasn't been playing at the peak of his powers for a few months now, and last night the Italian didn't really affect the game too much.
That being said, we didn't think he was hooked-at-halftime bad, so it was a surprise when he didn't reappear for the second half against Leeds.
Indeed, at the time we thought that if any of the midfielders were to be sacrificed, it would be Joelinton who had just looked like he was about to chin referee Michael Salisbury just before the break.
Sandro Tonali and Juliette Pastore welcomed their first child together on Thursday morning
It now seems that Sandro Tonali was subbed off in order to join his wife in the hospital as they welcomed the arrival of their first child.
Their son, Leonardo, was born this morning at 8:13 am, according to a post on Instagram by Tonali's wife, Juilette.
Huge congratulations to Sandro and Juliette on their new little Geordie.
Our international Geordie pool is growing
We expect that the little one's arrival will root them even further into the region, much like Bruno Guimaraes' kids have done for him.
Bruno calls his sons Brazilian Geordies, and we hope that Sandro will eventually come to label Leonardo as an Italian Geordie.
We can't wait to see Matteo, Peitro and Leonardo lining up in the black and white when they're older. We're building a team of international Geordies for the future.
