This has been a season of redemption for Sandro Tonali | OneFootball

The 2024/25 Newcastle United season will go down in Geordie folklore.

Not just for the silverware lifted at Wembley, but for the swagger, spirit, and steel that carried Newcastle United back to the Champions League.

For the first few months of the season, our start is curious. We won games where we didn’t particularly play well and we lost when we should have won.

Our form was patchy, and for a while, it felt like we were searching for our soul. Was intensity still our identity? The run of inconsistent results had fans wondering whether we could even stumble into any form of European qualification.

Fast forward to May 2025 and the tone has changed. There’s a trophy in the cabinet. Champions League nights are on the horizon again. And among the celebrations, the question begins to surface: Who is the Newcastle United 2024/25 Player of the Season?

It’s not an easy choice. A few names have been bandied about but ultimately, it depends on how you define POTY, here’s my take.

Colossal Presence: Dan Burn

With Sven Botman sidelined, Dan Burn played left centre-back and made the role his own. Why does he deserve to be in the Player of the Season conversation? It’s not just his size or experience — it’s his dependability. He rarely puts a foot wrong. You feel safer just seeing his name on the teamsheet.

Burn’s last-ditch tackles, his physical battles with strikers, and his ability to mark dangerous players out of the game, put him among the top defenders in the league this season. More than that, his story, the lad who climbed through the football pyramid to reach England caps and domestic glory is the stuff of legends.

He’s not just “good for a big lad.” If he were 25, English, and playing this well, someone would’ve slapped a £50 million price tag on him already. Add his Carabao Cup heroics to the mix and his status as a cult hero is sealed. He fully deserves the plaudits and the nomination.

The Catalyst: Sandro Tonali

This has been a season of redemption for Sandro Tonali. His story could have unravelled after the suspension, but instead, he returned with renewed purpose. The early part of his comeback saw him alternating roles with Longstaff, and though the results were mixed, the signs of quality were there.

Eddie Howe has spoiled us with a clear playing identity. This is no longer a side that just tries hard, it’s a team that knows exactly how it wants to play and play to win. At the heart of that structure is Tonali. When he nailed down the number six role, the team found its rhythm. The winning run began.

Sandro Tonali doesn’t just play, he dictates. How many times we have seen him cutting off a dangerous pass and that delightful one touch create dangerous opportunity for us. He is not a full blooded tackler, he dispossesses player with strength and intelligence. What a player. His consistency is so machine-like that when he has a rare off-day, it’s forgiven instantly. Football is a team game, but Tonali is the engine room, and the catalyst behind our return to Europe’s elite.

Indispensable: Alexander The Great

If Tonali is the catalyst, then Isak is the cherry on top, the cutting edge. From November to April, he put on a showcase of outrageous skill, calm finishes, and devastating footwork. His goals weren’t just vital, they were beautiful.

How important is Isak? Put him in any of Europe’s elite – Arsenal, Liverpool, PSG, Real Madrid – there will be significant elevation of quality and goals. If Newcastle were to sell him, chaos would follow. Among fans and club chairmen alike, there’d be a stampede. Every top team needs an Isak but for now, he’s ours.

Finding a striker with his blend of flair, stature, and intelligence is rare. And that’s what makes him indispensable. He doesn’t just finish moves; he defines our attacking identity.

It is so difficult to get a striker with the right stature and attributes, and Isak is the rarest amongst all.

Surprise of the season: Murphy, Hall and Livramento

Jacob Murphy’s renaissance under Howe has been astonishing. He’s yet another player who’s gone from being ‘Bruced’ to being ‘Eddied.’ Yes, having Isak up front inflates your assist numbers, but Murphy’s impact has gone far beyond stats. After Almiron’s departure, Murphy stepped up, and without him, we’d have been in trouble. Call it a purple patch if you want but it’s a deep, radiant purple.

Hall, once a sceptical signing in my eyes, has matured wonderfully. Calm on the ball, composed in defence, and increasingly in sync with Gordon on the left, he’s beginning to show why he might be England’s future at left-back. On the plus side, due to his ability on the ball and his previous position when at Chelsea, he could be an able back up if Joelinton gets suspended or injured.

Livramento surprised not because of ability, but adaptability. Tasked with playing on the unfamiliar left, he handled it with such confidence you’d think he was left-footed. Rumours been circulating around that the real Saka and Salah are still trying to escape his pocket. And the irony? He overlaps more from the left than he ever did on the right.

Toughest Season: Gordon, Guimaraes and Miley

I always prefer to see the glass half full, but even in a successful season, some players struggled to hit their previous heights.

Gordon, who terrorised fullbacks last season with pace and purpose, just didn’t reach those same levels. He still contributed goals, assists, and the occasional burst of brilliance. I remembered that season, people call him Flash, but this season he is back to Anthony Gordon, hard-working but not quite electric.

Bruno Guimaraes is a tougher pill to analyse. He remains the heartbeat of the team emotionally. He lifted the cup. He bleeds black and white. But the numbers don’t lie, he lost the ball more, referee wised up to his fouls against and seemed to hold onto possession longer than needed. Added to that infamous and unnecessary pirouette which makes me apoplectic, his game is not at the same level as what we all know he is capable of.

As for Miley, there’s talent there no doubt. He’s tidy, rarely dispossessed, and has that unteachable ability to look like he has time. Of all the midfield that we have, I am not sure what type of player he is or will be. At his level, minutes are precious. He needs regular football to develop an identity, and the best move might be a loan, ideally to Europe, where he can learn a different footballing culture, less physical style of play for his age as compared to the lower leagues. Let him grow elsewhere so he can shine here later.

Player of the Season?

It depends on what matters most to you; consistency, inspiration, importance, or narrative. For me, it’s a two-way battle between Burn’s grit and Tonali’s influence.

But no matter who gets the nod, this season has been a gift. Eddie Howe has spoiled us not just with silverware, but with a team that looks, feels, and fights like Newcastle United should. Long may it continue.