Lewis Hall to Man Utd? - Newcastle sources respond to new transfer links

The last couple of days have seen lots of talk online about Manchester United trying to land Lewis Hall from Newcastle United.

We didn't cover it initially as it all seemed to come from "ITKs" (In The Know) on X. For the uninitiated, ITKs tend to be spotty teenagers sitting in their bedrooms posting transfer stories on social media as if they have their own sources when in truth they're just making it up. Sometimes they get something right, and they will dine out on that for years and garner a following of clueless numpties.

ITKs make our job a nightmare at times, but also make it pretty funny, especially when mainstream media picks up on an ITK rumour and runs with it, a bit like what has happened with Lewis Hall and Manchester United.

Somehow, talkSPORT has picked up on this rumour and felt it had enough about it to actually publish it on their website, claiming that Jason Wilcox is ready to poach the Young Player of the Year contender.

Lee Ryder to the rescue

Thankfully, The Chronicle have done what journalists are supposed to do and looked into the story before running with it.

Lee Ryder has taken to X to refute the claims, pointing out that Eddie Howe recently said that Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento will be at the club for 'years to come', and that any links to Manchester United are purely speculative.

"NUFC sources have dismissed talk of Lewis Hall and Man United as speculative. Only on Friday Eddie Howe said he plans to keep Hall and Tino Livramento for “years to come”. 

"The club are in ongoing discussions with Livramento on a new deal and Hall is a boyhood Newcastle fan so will be more than open to similar talks."

Can Newcastle retain Tino Livramento?

If we were being cynical, we'd say that Howe's insistence that Livramento will be at the club for years to come seems a bit odd given how strongly he's been linked with an exit. Indeed, Arsenal Fans TV (ITK's with cameras) were claiming recently that Tino to Arsenal was a 'done deal'.

It's a good sign that Livramento is back in talks over a new deal. We suspect that his injury record this season has scared suitors away, and honestly, that's fine by us.

Keeping Hall and Livramento feels pretty crucial to whatever we build for the next phase, even if Tino is made of cheese strings.