"I'm shocked" - Chelsea expert issues must-read view on Lewis Hall as Toon land 'absolute steal'

With Lewis Hall arriving on Tyneside on a loan-to-buy basis, we've gained a view from Stamford Bridge on the 18-year-old talent.

We've reached out to Scott from Chels HQ; one of the leading Chelsea account on Twitter with 390,000 followers.

Read our Q&A below, which features a brilliant insight into his style of play, recent progress and why Blues fans are both shocked and dissapointed to see him go:

Q1. Firstly, what are your immediate thoughts on Hall's exit? So many Chelsea fans on social media seem pretty gutted to see him go...

I’m shocked and surprised because he only just signed a new six-year deal and was rumoured to be heading out on loan, but at the same time, with our crazy spending again this summer, there was always a chance we would have to sell some of our Academy graduates to balance the books. We just weren't expecting Hall to be one of them.

I genuinely believe he’s one of the very best that has come through our ranks in recent years and am incredibly sad to see him go. I will be following his development and know we will regret letting him go down the line, no doubt about that.

Q2. It's believed to be a loan-to-buy, where we'll pay £28m next summer + £7m in performance-related add-ons. Thoughts on the fee and structure of the deal?

The market is all over the place at the moment and it has become so difficult to say what is and what isn’t the right fee for a player. Considering he’s only 18, ridiculously versatile and the sky is literally the limit for him with the talent he possesses, the rumoured fee is an absolute steal, especially if he impresses during his initial loan spell for Newcastle.

We might be looking back at this deal a year from now thinking… how on earth didn’t we get £50m for him?! At least we managed to include a sell-on clause, according to various reports.

Q3. What are his strengths and weaknesses as a player?

What immediately springs to mind is his range of passing and crossing ability. He regularly created goals for our Development sides and should have had a bunch of first-team assists to his name last season if it wasn’t for some dismal finishing from his teammates.

People who don't know too much about him might be surprised to see how good he is at dribbling, taking on his opponent and drawing fouls. He’s a typical box-to-box player when deployed in midfield, times his runs well and is a goal threat too.

While he does score, he could do with a little more consistency in front of goal and has admitted himself he needs to work on his finishing. There were a couple of instances last season, even against Manchester City, where he should have scored but was let down by his final touch.

At 5 ft 10 in, he also isn’t particularly great in the air, but does use his body well in duels.

Q4. Howe likes good characters and players who'll give 100%. What's Hall like in terms of his attitude and work rate?

He’s an absolute workhorse and never looks like stopping, so it’s easy to see why Howe wants to add him to his squad.

He’s a good lad who perhaps could be more vocal on and off the pitch — something Frank Lampard mentioned towards the end of last season when asked about Hall — but that will come with age and more experience.

Q5. Howe has already praised his versatility, but do you see him playing as a left-back, left winger or central midfielder in the future?

I’ve seen him play in a multitude of positions and he hasn’t looked out of place anywhere. It will ultimately come down to where Howe thinks he can best use Hall’s attributes.

Personally, I think he’s most effective in midfield and that’s where he seems most comfortable. At the same time, he essentially kept Marc Cucurella out of the Chelsea team while Ben Chilwell was injured last season, which tells you just how impressive he was at left-back.

Football is constantly evolving and managers nowadays seem to favour players who are versatile and can play in different positions — you definitely have one of those in Lewis Hall.

Q6. Finally - in terms of style of play, which past or present player would you compare him to?

Although I believe Hall has a much higher ceiling, I like to think of him as a more athletic version of Oleksandr Zinchenko, who has also interchanged between defence and midfield, while having a great range of passing, technical ability and an engine.