Conspiracy theorists left flailing – Lewis Hall confirmed as permanent Newcastle United signing | OneFootball

On 22 August 2023 the signing of Lewis Hall was announced.

An initial loan season, at the end of which there would be an obligation to buy if certain criteria was met.

A lifelong Newcastle United fan through his family, Lewis Hall very excited to make the move from Chelsea.

The then 18 year old (pictured above back in August 2023) declaring after signing for NUFC:

“I’m very proud.

“Me and my family are Newcastle fans, and for me and my brother growing up, it was drilled into us that we were Newcastle.

“It’s a big club and I can’t wait to get started.

To now be here at Newcastle, the club that I’ve supported since I was a kid, I’m honoured and very proud to wear this shirt.”

A lot of conspiracy theories flying around as to why Lewis Hall hadn’t been given more playing chances this season, such as Newcastle United allegedly deciding they actually didn’t want to make the deal permanent and so Eddie Howe supposedly ordered to not play the teenager, so he didn’t start enough games to trigger the £28m buying obligation.

The truth proving a little different…

Turns out there were two boxes that needed ticking for Newcastle United to be obligated to buy the loan player.

One was for Lewis Hall to be named in at least 30 first team squads this season.

On the bench having been unable to train during the week, the Tottenham match was the 40th of the season where Hall had been named in an NUFC matchday squad. So that box ticked some time ago.

The second box needing ticking, was for Newcastle United to finish above 15th in the Premier League this season.

The 4-0 hammering of Tottenham took NUFC over that line and so, Newcastle United now confirmed as buying Lewis Hall at the end of this season.

Coming on as a late sub, Lewis Hall celebrating that 4-0 win AND the fact he is now confirmed as becoming a permanent Newcastle United signing at the end of the season:

“I am here now as a Newcastle player and I really enjoy it.

“The future looks really good for the club, with so many young and talented players.

“We are going in the right direction.”

The NUFC conspiracy theorists proving to be well wide of the target, as usual.

The truth almost certainly a lot less exciting.

Eddie Howe has repeatedly looked after new signings, making sure they are properly assimilated into the squad and can meet what he demands from them. Bruno Guimaraes was a 24 year old Brazil international and yet he had to wait over six weeks before making his first start and it could have potentially have been longer if not for players unavailable.

So when you sign an 18 year old, is it really such a surprise when Eddie Howe decided to use Lewis Hall so sparingly?

You just need to look at the over the top daft criticism that Hall got when starting in the 2-0 defeat away to Dortmund, people blaming him for a goal when actually it was Fabian Schar mostly to blame as he’d chased the ball / man out of defence and so wasn’t in place when the ball was played across the box and Dortmund scored.

As it stands, Lewis Hall has so far made 16 Newcastle United appearances, although only six of them as a starter.

I love the fact that Eddie Howe will always do what he considers to be the correct thing for the long-term, no matter what the ‘experts’ are demanding he should be doing.

As we have seen recently when he has got opportunities, Lewis Hall looks a cracking player, including giving a high quality left foot option on set-pieces.

The future is bright for Newcastle United, with a superb manager in Eddie Howe and some great young players that the NUFC boss is lookin after so well.