Newcastle United winger Harvey Barnes has warned former team-mate Sandro Tonali that the Magpies won't be showing him any 'niceness' when he is reunited with the Magpies on Saturday.
United make the trip to North London on Saturday evening to take on Tottenham Hotspur in what will be Tonali's home debut for his new club after leaving Newcastle in a £100million deal earlier this summer.
Ironically, his first competitive appearance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will come against a Newcastle side with whom he made his name as one of the top midfielders in the Premier League in the three years he spent on Tyneside after joining from AC Milan in the summer of 2023.
It will be a fascinating subplot in a game Matthias Jaissle will surely be targeting for his first Premier League win as Newcastle United head coach.
The Magpies drew 2-2 with Liverpool last weekend and were cruelly denied three points by Dominik Szoboszlai's stoppage time penalty kick. Meanwhile, Tottenham - despite spending over £300million on new players this summer - were thrashed 3-0 by Brentford on the opening weekend of the season.
And while Barnes admits it will be nice to see Tonali after the game on Saturday, he has warned the Italy international he will get no special treatment on Saturday.
"I think there's going to be a lot of clubs like that this year, we've got different things going on," Barnes told reporters after Newcastle's win over West Brom. "Like I said there's different managers, different players coming in, there's a lot of clubs in the same boat, so you can't underestimate anyone.
"You've just got to go with it, with the preparation and a game plan to go and win, that's exactly what we'll do. It'll also be great to go and get our first win there like you say, but we'll just do all our prep, make sure we're ready to go and see what we're up against.
"We've had a great few years with him [Tonali], he's on the other team for 90 minutes on Saturday, so there'll be no niceness on the pitch but afterwards there will be, 100 per cent. He's a familiar face and we know him well."
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Newcastle United chiefs have been given the full backing to make a flying finish in the summer transfer window - with a hectic bank holiday weekend in prospect for CEO David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson.
The Magpies have tried hard to keep their business under wraps all summer but there is a steely determination to make at least one more big-name signing before the window slams shut. Wilson is believed to be watching the Matias Fernandez-Pardo situation carefully with Newcastle keen on the player but knowing Lille are holding out for a huge fee of around £60m.
Hopkinson has been jet-setting in Europe in the last couple of days and is determining prices for targets. One of those targets is thought to be Stuttgart's Bilal El Khannouss, a player that Matthias Jaissle would love to add to his squad before summer trading is done.
Jaissle is believed to have made it clear to both Hopkinson and Wilson that the squad still needs a couple of additions if he is to deliver what Toon chiefs want this season. And while United are essentially managing expectations this summer, and not making big calls on where the club can finish, the theme from Newcastle's top brass has been clear.
Indeed, one insider to Chronicle Live: "We want everybody to be absolutely relentless in chasing aims in every department." That will be fully put to the test this weekend as Newcastle look to add to their seven summer signings.
Read the full transfer notebook, here.
Matthias Jaissle hinted that he has little choice as far as his back four is concerned at the minute. That's why I expect him to go with a similar defensive rearguard at Spurs this weekend and I'd agree with that selection.
I'd bring back Lukas Hornicek for the capital test against Tottenham and stick with the man of the moment Amar Dedic at right-back of course. In the middle Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman are building up some form and rapport as centre-halves while Lewis Hall slots easily in at left-back despite recent penalty blunders.
In midfield my holding duo would be Sean Steur and Nico Gonzalez while my attacking trio to play behind the striker are Harvey Barnes, Joe Willock and Anthony Elanga.
It is a tough choice in attack but I'd give Nick Woltemade another chance. Review the goals from the other night and he was yards away from a tap in for Harvey Barnes' first and could have taken on a shot for his second too had he been afforded the ball.
I'd preserve Lewis Miley for fitness reasons but he and Yoane Wissa are great back-up choices along with Bazouma Toure, Aladji Bamba and Jacob Ramsey.
My starting XI: Hornicek, Dedic, Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Steur, Gonzalez, Barnes, Willock, Elanga, Woltemade