'A lot stronger': 19-year-old admits to difficult period last season as permanent signing finally confirmed

Newcastle United have announced the permanent signing of left-back Lewis Hall from Chelsea after a season-long loan triggered an obligation to buy.

The Magpies brought in talented youngster Lewis Hall from Chelsea last summer late in the window on a season-long loan which contained an obligation to buy for £28million, potentially rising to £35million.

Newcastle fans were delighted with that bit of business as Hall had shown great potential in his few outings for Chelsea. The fact that he grew up a Newcastle fan didn't hurt things either.

Unfortunately, Hall had to wait to make his mark on the Newcastle team with many fans suspecting that Eddie Howe was deliberately keeping him out of the side to avoid triggering the option to buy.

We knew Hall was signing but we had to wait for the official confirmation

As it turned out, that option to buy was triggered by Newcastle's league position and not by anything related directly to Lewis Hall. We knew the deal had been triggered but we've had to wait until today, 1st July for it to become official.

In his announcement video Hall speaks of the hard work he's put in over the last year and how he realised he wasn't at the level he thought he was when he initially arrived, but now feels he is a lot stronger and ready to step up, and after seeing him perform towards the back end of last season, we believe him.

"I think looking back on it now (his long wait to break into the team) it's made me mentally a lot stronger than I was before.

"It was a few months of patiently having to wait where I thought I was ready. But tactically and technically, you've got to be superb and it was just waiting for my opportunity to come.

"There's a lot of things I can improve on to get to the very, very best level but I do believe in myself."