Newcastle loanee Lewis Hall cleared to face Chelsea in EFL cup

After nine years at Chelsea, Hall signed a season-long loan deal with the Magpies in August, with an option to buy for an initial £28 million plus £7 million in add-ons.

The 19-year-old has yet to establish himself as a first-team regular in Eddie Howe’s side, having played only 240 minutes in seven appearances for Newcastle this season.

Hall has started four of his seven Premier League games, but has been substituted three times. His most recent appearance was as a late substitute in Newcastle’s 3-0 win over Fulham last weekend.

In the midst of an injury crisis, Howe is expected to rotate his squad as much as possible on Tuesday, and Hall is in contention to play against Chelsea, who are said to have granted permission for the teenager to play.

Hall was ineligible to face Mauricio Pochettino’s side in Newcastle’s 4-1 Premier League win over the West Londoners last month, but EFL Cup rules state that loan players are free to play against their parent club as long as the two clubs agree on their availability.

Due to the youngster’s lack of regular first-team football during the first half of this season, speculation about Hall’s future at Newcastle has recently surfaced.

Newcastle announced in August that their obligation to purchase Hall is “based on performance-related criteria,” and it has been suggested that the versatile wideman must make a certain number of appearances before joining the Magpies on a permanent basis.

Howe admitted last week that he is “not 100% sure” if Hall’s loan move will be converted to a permanent deal next summer if the “criteria” are met.

Nonetheless, Hall’s future at Newcastle is unrelated to the number of appearances he makes this season, according to The Telegraph, and the nature of the criteria the teenager is required to meet has yet to be confirmed.

Hall will be vying for a starting spot in Tuesday’s quarter-final as either a left-back or a left-winger as Newcastle look to follow up impressive wins over Manchester City and Manchester United in the previous two rounds with a win over Chelsea in order to reach the semi-finals.

Howe has refused to rule out the possibility of defender Sven Botman starting for Newcastle against Chelsea, but Fabian Schar, Joelinton, and Alexander Isak are all questionable and will be assessed before kickoff.