Newcastle United have decided they will do all they can to keep Lewis Hall and one of his team-mates amid strong interest from Manchester United and Arsenal, according to a report.
The fact Newcastle have dropped out of the Champions League means they risk losing some of their biggest assets this summer, including Hall, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento. Those players want to feature in Europe’s best club competition each season, while also competing for trophies domestically.
Left-back Hall has earned plenty of admirers since swapping Chelsea for Newcastle in August 2023.
As the English talent originally trained as a central midfielder, he is extremely composed on the ball and has great game intelligence.
Hall also has the physicality and defensive nous to keep elite wingers quiet.
It emerged on May 4 that Man Utd director of football Jason Wilcox has made it a personal mission of his to sign Hall as the Red Devils’ new left-back.
We confirmed on March 24 that Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal are all expressing interest in the 21-year-old.
Sources informed us that Newcastle have no intention of selling Hall this summer, which has now been backed up by The Chronicle’s chief Newcastle writer, Lee Ryder.
Ryder states that talk of Hall joining Man Utd is ‘speculative’ as Eddie Howe has announced he intends to keep both the left-back and fellow defender Livramento for ‘years to come’.
Newcastle have entered ‘discussions’ to tie Livramento down to a new contract, and Hall is a ‘boyhood Newcastle fan’ so he ‘will be more than open to similar talks’.
Wilcox has identified Hall as the perfect replacement for the likes of Patrick Dorgu and Tyrell Malacia. Dorgu is expected to be used further forward as a left winger, while Malacia has been allowed to leave.
Hall could provide Luke Shaw with serious competition for his starting role at Old Trafford before eventually succeeding the 30-year-old.
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Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal all admire Lewis Hall
It was claimed on April 14 that Newcastle could consider a £55m bid for Hall, having originally paid Chelsea £35m for his services.
However, the fact Ryder is reporting such a strong stance from Newcastle suggests Hall’s price tag will actually be much higher than £55m, as he is viewed as an important part of their project.
Arsenal reportedly barged Liverpool aside in the chase for Hall in April.
Xabi Alonso has supposedly landed on Hall as one of his first targets at Chelsea, too.
Livramento, meanwhile, is high on Arsenal’s right-back shortlist as they prepare to sell Ben White.
This summer could be tricky for Newcastle to navigate as they need to sell players to fund a squad rebuild, but without losing their top stars.
Hall is unlikely to push for a transfer given his love for the Toon, but Livramento’s potential exit is a different matter entirely.
