To me he's the classic 'metronome' midfielder, he takes the ball from deep and sets the team away. Defensively he covers ground and looks to steal the ball away in a way that someone like Pjanic can't really do because he doesn't have the legs.I don't think his job is as the final midfield defender or as the offensive assist man, but I'd imagine if he played for a team like Juve he'd have a lot more assists than he does at Brescia because he has vision that is a bit wasted with more mediocre players.
So far he has what, 3 assists? In a typical Pirlo season - to take the laziest comparison - he had about 7 a season. 2011-12 was a standout season for Pirlo by far, he didn't get near that later. These sort of players will often get at least half of their assists from set pieces. If I had to make a prediction for Tonali I'd say he would be looking at 4-6 goals per season, and 6-8 assists, on average.
@Hist you're comparing a 19 year old in his first Serie A season with guys who have 150+ top flight games to their names, international caps etc. Lars Bender is 30 years old...