Eddie Howe did not welcome mention of ‘The Slough Maldini’, but he knew without asking to whom the moniker belonged.
‘I would urge a little bit of caution, because I want to protect Lewis,’ the Newcastle boss told Daily Mail Sport on Friday. ‘But you’ve just killed that with your opening line!’
Lewis is Lewis Hall, the 21-year-old who will next week be included in the England squad for the first time under Thomas Tuchel, the manager who gave him his senior debut at Chelsea four years ago.
When Tuchel visited St James’ Park last week, there were eight English starters in the line-ups of Newcastle and Manchester City. Behind the scenes, it is said that the one player he asked most about was Hall. The testimony was glowing, but on the pitch the left back’s feet spoke louder still, just as they did three days later against Barcelona.
There was a moment from that game involving Hall and Lamine Yamal worth revisiting. One dribbled around the other, causing the beaten man to commit a desperate foul. Only, it was Hall doing the dribbling. His performance in the 1-1 draw, against the best player he has faced, was the standout from his 93 for Newcastle, even if that is an increasingly competitive field.
In his three seasons at St James’ Park – a move that was initially a loan and then a £28million permanent one, rising to £35m – Hall’s improvement has been like watching a blurred photograph come slowly into focus.
Lewis Hall is going from strength to strength at Newcastle, with his brilliant performance up against Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal this week a career highlight
The 21-year-old – also known as ‘The Slough Maldini’ – is now well set to be England’s starting left back at this summer’s World Cup
Now we know what Howe and his staff saw when signing a player who barely featured in his first campaign, despite the club’s injury crisis. Eyebrows were furrowed at ownership level when he went seven matches as an unused substitute and was hooked at half-time in three of his first four starts.
Even Hall wondered what the plan was for him. Maybe he should have stuck to his second love of cricket, the sport in which he averaged 49 with the bat when turning out for Berkshire club Binfield in the summer of 2023.
He has played for them since the age of 12 and, on their website, his profile states: ‘All-rounder. Left-hander. Medium paced in-swingers. Likes a cover drive. Loves cricket and has been known to enjoy playing football too.’
But the football, following his Newcastle move in 2023, was a concern.
‘Do they think I’m s***?’ he asked those close to him, considering the extra sessions during the week and no game-time come the weekend.
’No, they’re doing it because they think you could be brilliant,’ came the reply.
Howe says: ‘He had a really tough first year and had to do a lot of work behind the scenes. He had to show mental strength and patience and commit to his development. He’s worked tirelessly with Jason Tindall, a lot of work on the basics of defending. They were out there in his first year for hours and hours.’
Hall later said: ‘I don’t think I’ve ever had that level of coaching.’
Hall caught the eye of England boss Thomas Tuchel during Newcastle’s FA Cup tie with Manchester City earlier this month
Tuchel places great stock on good characters, and Hall is that. ‘If your daughter brought him home, you’d be happy,’ says one Newcastle insider
His conversion to left back only came after Tuchel involved him in first-team training at Chelsea, where he returns on Saturday tea-time with the England boss set to be in attendance. Hall had been an England youth midfielder to that point.
So, when he won the first of his two senior caps under Lee Carsley in 2024, there were phone calls of gratitude to the likes of Tindall from those who had reassured Hall he was on the right path at Newcastle. The temptation, for a teenager living alone in the North East, would have been to take the road back to Berkshire.
‘It’s one thing putting on the extra sessions for him, but he has to want to do it, and he has to see the need to do it,’ said Howe. ‘He deserves enormous credit for committing to all of that.’
Hall is, naturally, a quiet boy. ‘He won’t be an after-dinner speaker,’ says one who knows him best. When he faced the media ahead of Barcelona in a St James’ Park press room busier than it has ever been, you wondered if facing Yamal 24 hours later would have appealed to him more.
But beneath the flashbulbs he shone. So much so, he was still talking beyond UEFA’s allocated 15 minutes while Hansi Flick waited for his turn outside. It was further evidence of his growth and pleasantly surprised those close to him.
The next step, for Howe and his staff, is turning Hall into a full back who delivers more goal contributions. His brother, Brackley Town forward Connor, would welcome that. It was after one of his two Premier League goals, and referencing his younger sibling’s fantasy football score, that Connor posted: ‘Finally, geez! 2 pointers were killing me!’
Hall’s dad, Colin, is a Newcastle fan and that is how his boys were raised some 300 miles from Tyneside.
In the away concourse at Southampton last season, his mum, Laura, was moved to tears when supporters performed a rendition of their new song in tribute to her son, Estelle’s American Boy remastered: ‘Take me on a trip, I want to go some day, Champions League, Europa, I want to see you play, I really want to, get to Europe with you, you’re my super Lewis Hall, my Lewis Hall.’
A teenage Hall (front row, far left) in his days representing Binfield Cricket Club in Berkshire. The multi-talented Hall averaged over 40 for the seniors in 2021, 2022 and 2023
Hall returns to his old club Chelsea on Saturday, where he will have another shot at impressing his former Blues boss Tuchel
With Curtis Jones (left) and Morgan Rogers after making his England debut against Greece in November 2024
The words were prophetic and, on Wednesday, the Halls will be in Barcelona for the Champions League last-16 second leg. Beyond that, they will likely be in North America this summer. Tuchel places great stock on good characters, and Hall is that. ‘If your daughter brought him home, you’d be happy,’ says one Newcastle insider.
But it is Hall’s emergence as the Premier League’s most in-form left back that will win him inclusion for this month’s England friendlies. Tuchel has reservations over Djed Spence and Myles Lewis-Skelly, has not yet reached out to Luke Shaw and has seen Nico O’Reilly moved to midfield at City. Never mind a squad place, Hall will be in line to start.
‘He’s got these attributes, some natural, some coached, that make him stand out,’ says Howe. ‘His low centre of gravity, his ball manipulation in tight areas. He can do a little bit of everything. He can cross the ball, he can shoot from distance. He’s got a lot of strengths that not many players in that position would have.
‘But he’s got to stay very level and very focused, because the game can turn very quickly. I want to give him all the praise and the credit he deserves, but he’s got to continue on that path. The best way to do that is to keep him, especially for a defender, on the low.’
To that end, you understand why Howe grimaced at mention of Maldini. But as Slough’s most famous export, David Brent, once said: ‘If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.’
And right now, Hall is justifiably being showered with praise.
