Official Premier League announcement made ahead of £28m Newcastle United signing

Lewis Hall has been named on Chelsea’s retained list for the 2024-25 season following his loan spell at Newcastle United.

The 19-year-old remains contracted at Chelsea but is set to sign for Newcastle permanently this summer for around £28million as per the obligation to buy terms in his loan deal.

Premier League retained lists were published on Wednesday which confirmed Lloyd Kelly would be leaving AFC Bournemouth as he closes in on a move to Newcastle while Tosin Adarabioyo would leave Fulham after agreeing to join Chelsea.

Newcastle’s retained list confirmed Paul Dummett, Matt Ritchie, Loris Karius, Kelland Watts and Jeff Hendrick would be leaving the club. Neither Newcastle nor Chelsea mentioned Hall in club statements issued on their respective club websites but the Premier League’s official retained list stated Hall as a Chelsea player for next season.

Hall has spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Newcastle, scoring twice in 22 appearances. It is understood the performance-related criteria required to trigger the obligation to buy the player has been triggered but there has been no official update from the club as of yet.

After a difficult start to his loan spell at Newcastle, Hall proved to be key player for Eddie Howe since coming into the starting line-up in the latter stages of the season. The youngster admitted himself that he struggled during the opening months at the club as he was limited to just one Premier League start in Newcastle's opening 29 league matches this campaign.

But Howe views Hall as a player for the future and praised his impact during the closing stages of the campaign.

“I think for any player when you come to a new club, especially for someone so young, it’s natural there will be a settling in period and adjustment, not just in terms of the training but in terms of his life, how he feels, how comfortable he feels,” Howe admitted. “There is always a process to go through, you don’t just land here… even Bruno [Guimaraes], he didn’t just land here and play straight away, he had to adjust and people forget that.

“I think he’s done really well to commit and have consistency in his work even when no doubt he was frustrated that things weren’t happening from him quicker than he wanted.

“I’m delighted with where his game is at.”