Eddie Howe was full of praise for £28m man after incredible performance for his country this week

Newcastle United are back to having a slew of international-quality players amongst their ranks but not just at senior level, there are plenty who represent their country at youth level too.

Young internationals are something that Newcastle haven't had many of compared to other clubs due to the academy being almost forgotten about for years.

Now, though, the youth teams are getting the attention they deserve and a lot of Newcastle's recruitment is based around finding young players with exceptional talent to develop for the first team.

One such player was Lewis Hall who was loaned from Chelsea last season before making the move permanent this summer for £28 million.

Lewis Hall was brought in to go straight to the first team

Hall is slightly different in that he was brought in for the first-team, but Eddie Howe quickly realised he wasn't quite at the level last season and it took a long time before we saw anything even remotely close to the potential he'd joined with.

However, the boyhood Newcastle fan has worked hard behind the scenes to get to a place where he's now in contention for a starting place every week. On top of that, Hall is now making a name for himself in the England U21s.

While away with the Young Lions this past week, Hall picked up the Player of the Match award for his two assists in England's 4-1 win over Austria.

Eddie Howe has a tough call to make ahead of Sunday's game

Eddie Howe was asked about Hall in this morning's pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's clash with Wolves and the Newcastle boss has noted how Hall is getting more and more confident.

"I am really pleased with his development since he has been with us, he is growing in confidence all the time. Very happy that he has gone away and had his first start for England u21s."

Howe commented that Hall is definitely in his thoughts for a start on Sunday, but it is worth remembering just how good Lloyd Kelly was against Tottenham time out, too with the new signing getting his first assist of the season.

It's great to have competition for places again, isn't it?