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What did Eddie Howe’s comments about Chelsea loanee mean?
Lewis Hall’s lack of involvement at Newcastle has led to questions over his future at St James’ Park. Eddie Howe was asked about the situation of the Chelsea loanee during his press conference on Friday and the Magpies boss could not confirm if the full-back would be in his squad next season, stating that “there’s certain criteria” Hall has to meet.
I can say that Newcastle don’t want to share this precise criteria in public but sources guarantee it’s not super difficult to reach it. Let’s see in the next months what happens with Hall as the picture will become clearer with time. In my opinion, I don’t think Howe wanted to speak about this topic in a negative way; he just said the truth.
It is only a matter of time before Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Man United deal is announced
From what I am hearing, Ratcliffe is currently focusing on employing the right people to put on the board at Man United as this is an important part of him having sporting control at the Premier League club. Ratcliffe wants to get this done first before any conversations start to happen about the manager’s future at Old Trafford.
What is the latest on Liverpool’s interest in Joao Palhinha?
In other news…
Ivan Toney – Brentford want a super important proposal to sell Toney in January as they are very happy to keep the player until June. That’s very clear. Arsenal are still tracking the striker’s situation and the same can be said for Chelsea. Nothing has been decided yet.
Claudio Echeverri – A move for Claudio Echeverri to Barcelona is not that easy due to Financial Fair Play reasons. It’s true that Barcelona opened talks and like the player a lot but it’s not an easy deal to get done with River Plate. The race for the 17-year-old is still 100% open for Premier League clubs to join at this stage.
Clement Lenglet – Nothing is close to being signed regarding the future of Lenglet but I have reported that AC Milan have asked for information on the player, that’s it for the moment. The club wanted to be informed so let’s see what they decide to do. Of course, the deal would be made with Barcelona and not with Aston Villa, but it’s still early stages.