If you look closely at photographs of the ritual celebrations in the dressing room following every Newcastle United victory, you’ll notice Lewis Hall lurking in the background with a smile that would fall into the ‘forced’ category.
This is the intriguing case of a £28m summer signing who became Newcastle’s mystery man and a loan move where no-one knows for sure what will happen next.
When Newcastle announced the signing of Hall, a young Newcastle fan, from Chelsea in the summer, it appeared to meet the need for a young left-back to put pressure on Dan Burn.
It was a strange deal. Newcastle paid around £4 million to give the 19-year-old a season-long loan and had an obligation to pay a further £24 million for the transfer to become permanent.
However, Hall only started one Premier League game against Bournemouth in November, being sent off at half-time in a heavy 2-0 defeat. The same month, he also started Newcastle’s 2-0 Champions League defeat against Borussia Dortmund, but was substituted again at half-time. Hall has managed 104 minutes of football in the Premier League this season and was only used as a late-game substitute, even during the club’s severe injury crisis in December.
Newcastle carried out the transfer in a way that would still comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) and Chelsea were happy to wait for full payment for academy graduates until the following summer.
This fee would represent pure profit for Chelsea, a homegrown player who has his own PSR concerns. But there is still no guarantee they will get that money, with Howe confirming on Friday that the youngster has yet to meet the criteria for his loan move to turn into a permanent deal.
Telegraph Sport tries to make sense of a confusing situation…
Why didn’t Hall play?
The deal was mainly driven by former director of football Dan Ashworth and Howe was happy enough to acquire a player he believed had the potential to become one of the best left-backs in the country.
But reality quickly dawned on the Newcastle manager. Hall was immature and not as far along in his development as he initially thought. Howe lacks the defensive awareness and physicality to produce the performances he needs for the first team.
There was quality improvement, particularly his first goal for the club in the Carabao Cup win over Manchester United in the autumn, but Hall moved from midfielder to full-back and it showed.
When Burn was injured before Christmas and Matt Targett was also lost to injury, Howe opted to play right-back Tino Livramento on that side of the defence.
The sad truth is that Hall isn’t good enough to be a first-choice left-back in the Premier League at the moment, and Howe doesn’t think he could be a better man in midfield.
But he urged people to understand Hall for what he is, a youngster with potential that Newcastle signed for the future, not the present.
Asked about Hall’s future on Tyneside, Howe said: “In my opinion, I’m gearing up for Lewis to be at Newcastle for many years to come.”
“He’s always been brought in with a long-term perspective, not a short-term signing. He’s a long-term signing.”
Will Newcastle sign him permanently?
This is where things get darker, as Howe confirmed that Newcastle do not currently have to make his loan move permanent at the end of the season.
Asked if the criteria had been met for Newcastle to sign Hall, Howe replied: “I don’t think it’s quite happened yet, but I’m hoping it will happen very soon.”
When asked to say what those criteria were, Howe declined, adding: “You’re digging too deep now.”
A strange approach to a simple question. Sources say Newcastle will have to sign Hall in the summer and Chelsea will have to pay some much-needed money, but doubts remain unless the criteria for fulfilling that obligation are met.
This raises the obvious question: did Howe, aware that PSR would be an issue for Newcastle again this summer, refuse to play at the Hall because he did not want appearance clauses to come into play because the money could have been better spent elsewhere? does the window open? This is possible, although sources deny this.
It is also thought that Newcastle’s league position in May will be important. There are suggestions that Newcastle will not confirm Hall’s permanent signing until they are mathematically clear of relegation danger.
This seems inevitable, but there are still unsubstantiated claims that Newcastle need to finish above a certain place in the league rather than avoid relegation. Again, this has neither been confirmed nor denied.
What would it mean for Chelsea if Newcastle pull out of the deal?
Even if the move becomes permanent as expected, the money for Hall won’t be received until July. So this won’t help Chelsea comply with PSR rules this season anyway, after announcing a loss of £90 million in their latest accounts.
Clubs are only allowed total losses of £105 million over a three-year period to comply with the rule, and Chelsea are believed to be planning to sell several squad players before the end of June to get back on track financially.
However, Hall’s money will go a long way towards funding summer recruitment plans and his return to Stamford Bridge would be a huge blow to the club.
Considering how little he has played for Newcastle this season, there is no way Chelsea could get anything like £28m right now.
There is no doubt that signing him was a mistake, as Howe spoke positively about Hall and his future at the club. Newcastle needed first-team ready players last summer and have committed to spending the majority of their budget this summer on a player who cannot break into the team, even if there are no other suitable players specializing in that position.