'Real talent': Journalist now shines a light on the 'frustration' behind the scenes at Newcastle over £28m player

Newcastle United made some shrewd moves in the summer transfer window but not every one of them has gone according to plan.

The obvious one would be signing of Sandro Tonali who was regarded as one of the best young footballers in the world and was seen as a huge coup for Eddie Howe, especially given the relatively low £55million transfer fee that was involved.

However, Newcastle would soon see all that excitement vanish as Tonali was slapped with a 10-month ban after pleading guilty to breaching betting rules while playing for AC Milan, a ban which will see Newcastle without the Italian until a few games into next season.

The other signing that hasn't worked out so far is that of youngster Lewis Hall from Chelsea.

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Newcastle will have to pay Chelsea £28million for Lewis Hall

The Chelsea left-back got his dream move signing for his beloved Newcastle United on an initial season-long loan with an obligation to buy for £28million upon meeting certain criteria, which has recently been revealed to be upon Newcastle finishing above 15th in the Premier League. That fee could also rise to £35million depending on other criteria, but if that is based on anything he's done this season, we should be safe with paying just the £28million.

There was a lot of buzz around the Toon Army when it was finally revealed that the Magpies interest in Hall was genuine as in his few Chelsea appearances he'd shown flashes of brilliance. We thought we were getting someone who could come in and immediately push Dan Burn for that left-back spot, but sightings of Hall have been rarer than Mackems in Milan.

Eddie Howe has faced questions about Hall all season and why the youngster isn't playing more, and in true Howe fashion he's managed to answer the questions without ever giving a proper answer, but has always maintained that Hall has a big part to play in Newcastle's future.

Newcastle could really do with Hall getting up to speed pronto

Journalist George Caulkin has recently shared what he's been hearing behind the scenes at Newcastle around Hall on the Pod on the Tyne podcast.

“They’ve always thought there is a player in there.

“He is young. People don’t necessarily adapt at the same rate of pace. There’s a real talent there, and they are confident they can get it out of him.

“It’s been very frustrating, I’m sure for him, certainly for fans and for people on the coaching staff that it’s not happened quicker. But there’s a good player there.”

The calls to give Hall a shout have grown louder as the season has gone on, especially with Dan Burn's clear issues dealing with pacey wingers causing a load of problems, but there's been a feeling that Howe doesn't quite trust Hall defensively yet and that's what is keeping him out of the team.

Even when the lad does get a chance, he often gets hooked. Let's just hope that a full summer training with the team can finally bring out what Howe thinks is missing as there's clearly a talented footballer there.