Dan Burn reveals Newcastle United’s £68m transfer masterstroke as England come calling

Hall came on at half-time of England’s 3-0 win in Athens and impressed during the 45 minutes he was given by Lee Carsley. It has been a brilliant turnaround for the former Chelsea man who was struggling for regular gametime with his club just one year ago.

However, a very good end to the season and an impressive beginning of the campaign led to him being called-up to an England squad for the first time by Lee Carsley earlier this month. The Magpies paid Chelsea £28m to sign Hall in a deal that is already looking like a steal and for Burn, who has played alongside the 20-year-old this season, it’s a testament to the hard work Hall puts in on the training pitch that he has been rewarded with international recognition: “He has been brilliant,” Burn told the Gazette. 

“I’ve always said about Lewis it’s just about a run of games. When people sign here they expect that they’ll go into [the team] straight away but the way that we play it takes a while to build into that, to know your roles and for the team to click and work.

“You probably saw it with Anthony [Gordon] when he came in, Sandro [Tonali] as well a little bit. I’m really happy for him. I try to help him where I can but he’s been on fire and he deserves all the plaudits he gets.”

With Anthony Gordon playing ahead of him on Thursday night, England’s left side was dominated by Newcastle United for 20 minutes until Gordon was replaced. With Tino Livramento also called-up by Carsley, there is a chance that Newcastle could have three representatives on the pitch when the Three Lions face the Republic of Ireland on Sunday. 

Livramento moved to St James’ Park last summer in a deal that could see Newcastle United pay Southampton £40m in total. Despite having Kieran Trippier as competition, Livramento has made that right-back position his own and will be keen to make his mark at international level if given the opportunity by Carsley.

Trippier was the club’s first signing post-takeover with Burn also joining in that window in a bid to keep the Magpies clear of any relegation danger. Under Howe’s guidance they were able to do that and whilst they have been frustrated in some transfer windows since then as PSR begins to bite, Burn believes that the club should take credit for changing their transfer policy from that first window - a change that has allowed Livramento and Hall to succeed.

“The way we have recruited players in the last few years, we’ve moved away from when they recruited me, Tripps, Woody which were players over 30 to now looking towards the future. Big hats off to them for doing that. 

“They’ve got all the chance they need, there’s probably not two fullbacks playing better than what they are at the moment.”