Newcastle are going to sign £28m player next year despite recent Howe decision

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There are currently a lot of question marks surrounding Lewis Hall at Newcastle United.

He was the final player to arrive at St James’ Park during the summer transfer window, with the Magpies agreeing a loan deal with Chelsea to sign the teenager.

The deal also included an obligation to buy, if certain criteria is met. Interestingly, Chelsea described it as an ‘option’ to buy, rather than an obligation.

Away from the semantics, Newcastle are pencilled in to sign Lewis Hall for £28million next summer. The hope is that he will be the Magpies’ long-term left-back, with Tino Livramento operating down the right.

Newcastle invested in their future during the summer, but Livramento is already having an impact now. However, it is a different story for Hall.

The 19-year-old has struggled for minutes at times, being limited to just three starts. And on each of them he was replaced at half time.

Despite Newcastle’s current injury woes and intense run of games, Hall has barely featured. He played just over 15 minutes on Sunday as Eddie Howe’s side lost to Tottenham Hotspur.

Given Newcastle’s need for rotation as of late, it has came as a surprise to some fans that Hall has not been playing. After all, the club are planning to spend a huge amount of money on him.

It has led to some speculation from supporters that perhaps the club are no longer convinced by the teenager, and are therefore not playing him to avoid triggering the obligation to buy.

However, an update from the Athletic’s Chris Waugh suggests that this is not the case.

Newcastle still expected to sign Lewis Hall permanently

Journalist Chris Waugh spoke about the Lewis Hall situation on the latest episode of Pod On The Tyne, and explained why Newcastle are still expected to sign the left-back permanently in 2024.

“In terms of the contractual situation, I don’t know the specific ins and outs of it,” he said.

“But ever since this deal happened, everyone on all sides has spoken as if they expect this to be permanent. Lewis Hall has spoke about basically leaving Chelsea.

“Chelsea’s wording was slightly different to Newcastle’s when it was announced, but everyone at Chelsea is basically speaking as if Lewis Hall is leaving. For them, for FFP, it would be quite important to get that money this upcoming summer.”

Patience is required with Newcastle teenager

It would be a real surprise if Newcastle had changed their mind about Hall so soon. After all, it has taken better players than Hall longer to adapt to Eddie Howe’s style of play, while the defender is still incredibly young.

Given his potential, it is easy to forget how little football Hall played for Chelsea at senior level. In truth, he is still a youngster who is trying to make the step up to Premier League level.

He is going to get there, but he is not going to have an immediate impact like Livramento. Obviously that is disappointing, but the club were thinking even more long-term when they signed him from Chelsea.

Understandably, fans want to see more of him, and he will probably want to play more himself. And an opportunity could be coming his way this weekend, with Kieran Trippier set to be suspended for the Premier League clash with Fulham.

That could give Hall the chance to start his first league game at St James’ Park, and it looks like the ideal situation for Howe to really see what he is capable of at this moment in time.