Troy Deeney can't see how Newcastle United could possibly sell 'excellent' player he chose in BBC's Team of the Week

Newcastle United came away from St James' Park on Sunday with three points in the bag against a direct rival for Champions League qualification.

Indeed, there was nothing separating the two sides in the Premier League table before kick-off beyond the fact that Newcastle had scored more goals.

Chelsea conceded a goal in the first two minutes as Sandro Tonali finished from close range after another Jacob Murphy assist, then the Blues looked to make life even easier for Newcastle when Nicolas Jackson delivered a forearm smash to the face of Sven Botman, picking up a red card for his troubles.

However, as has often been the case with Newcastle, having a one-man advantage seems to have an adverse effect, and Chelsea were the dominant side in the second half.

BBC

Sandro Tonali made it into the Team of the Week for the BBC

So, despite the two-nil win, we actually weren't too surprised to see that only one Newcastle player made it into Troy Deeney's Team of the Week for the BBC.

The former Watford man opted for Sandro Tonali, who did run a close race with Dan Burn for Player of the Match on the day. Deeney hailed Tonali as 'excellent' before saying there's no way Newcastle can sell him this summer.

"Sandro Tonali (Newcastle): Tonali has been in this team three or four times already this season. He is an excellent, excellent footballer. There was talk about him being sold earlier on in the season. I can't see how they can sell him, I really can't."

£55 million really is looking like a steal for Sandro Tonali

We all know that the rumours about Newcastle selling Tonali were complete hogwash anyway, but Deeney is right, there's absolutely no way we could sell him, he's simply too good and too important.

It wasn't just his goal that put him on this list; Tonali was everywhere and involved in everything, and even before he scored his goal, it was his tackling that regained possession for Newcastle, leading to his finish.

Sandro Tonali always felt like a bargain at £55 million, but now he's proving to us just how good a deal we got.