Eddie Howe explains why Newcastle United’s new signing was seen at Brighton following Liverpool’s rejection.

After coming on loan from Chelsea last month, Lewis Hall has yet to play for Newcastle United, as Eddie Howe has revealed.

For the 2023–24 season, Hall moved to Newcastle on loan from Chelsea with an agreement to purchase for £28 million the following summer. The left-back, who is 18 years old, has been eligible to play for The Magpies in each of their previous two Premier League games, but he has yet to make his league debut.

Howe told The Gazette that Hall was “some way short of being match-fit,” and he was completely benched for the 2-1 loss to Liverpool at St. James’ Park.

In the next weekend’s 3-1 loss at Brighton & Hove Albion, Hall traveled with the team but did not play. This was true even though Eddie Howe switched around his back four, inserting left-back Matt Targett in place of the injured Sven Botman.

Lewis is building up his fitness, so there was no temptation to start him since he has started at zero with us really having not played preseason, Howe stated when assessing how close Hall is to playing for Newcastle’s first team.

“We’re nicely building him up, and he’s doing very well.”

Hall made his Premier League debut for Chelsea against Newcastle at St James’ Park in November of last year. Since then, he has played in eight more league games for the team, including the rematch against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge in May. The club sought out the adolescent as they searched for defensive reinforcements over the summer since he has been a lifelong supporter of Newcastle.

Howe acknowledged that Hall could need some time to get used to his new surroundings in Tyneside.

Howe said, “[Hall’s] short-term goal is to develop to us, and by that I mean mold his game around what we want him to do, and that’ll take a while.

“Ideally, you aim to bring in new signings as early as possible during pre-season, and I believe we’ve seen the advantages of that with someone like Sandro Tonali, who came in and adapted to our way of doing things very quickly.

“Even though there is still plenty to do, this time has been really helpful. A comparable phase where Lewis fully comprehends what we need him to do will be necessary.