Gonzalez completed his £50m move from Manchester City yesterday and was paraded in front of the fans at St James’ Park ahead of the Magpies’ Carabao Cup second-round win over West Brom.
The midfielder is match fit, having been involved in part of City’s pre-season programme, and trained with his new team-mates at Newcastle’s KNOX training complex earlier today.
Matthias Jaissle has been happy with the way in which the Spaniard has settled in since moving to Tyneside, and is considering handing him an immediate debut at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend.
“He [Gonzalez] trained with us and he looked sharp,” said the Newcastle boss. “He’s an option [for the Spurs game]. He is a smart player, he has huge potential, and already he brings huge quality to the squad.”
While Newcastle showed plenty of positive signs as they drew 2-2 with Liverpool in their opening game of the season, Roberto de Zerbi’s new-look Spurs side looked well off the pace as they crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Brentford.
Nevertheless, with Spurs having added to their ranks again this week with the double capture of Savio and Omar Marmoush from Manchester City, Jaissle will not be underestimating the scale of the challenge as he oversees his first competitive away game as Newcastle boss.
“We will be facing a top team and it is a difficult challenge,” he said. “But we will not change our approach. We are facing a really strong opponent, but with our playing style, we can cause any opponents problems.”
Newcastle are set to come up against a Spurs team featuring former Magpies midfielder Sandro Tonali on Saturday, with the Italian having left Tyneside in a £100m move earlier this summer.
Last weekend, Jaissle’s side successfully shackled former Newcastle forward Alexander Isak, and the German is hoping for a similar outcome against Tonali.
“I was aware he [Tonali] was a player here, a really important player here who left the club,” he said. “Tottenham signed him, as a huge signing, so we are facing a huge challenge on Saturday.
“It is always nice to face old team-mates, so there should at least be special motivation. That worked against Isak already, so hopefully it will work for us on Saturday."