Chris Waddle has admitted he fears Lewis Hall's head could still be turned despite the England star signing a new contract on Tyneside. The 22-year-old penned an improved extension until 2031, but Waddle is not convinced he will see his time out if the Magpies endure another low finish in the Premier League.
Waddle's warning over Hall's future
Newcastle sit in ninth place as Premier League play resumes later this week, and Waddle hopes his old side can build on that position in order to hold on to stars like Hall. Hall had big interest from Manchester United earlier in the summer, but Newcastle stuck to their guns and refused to talk to the Red Devils on any price tag.
Subsequently, a refreshed Hall, after being left out for a couple of games by Eddie Howe near the end of last season, returned for pre-season training with a smile on his face and was soon working for a different manager in Matthias Jaissle. However, there remains talk that Man Utd want to come back in for the player next summer.
Waddle believes that while Hall could become Newcastle captain in the next couple of years, they need to be qualifying for Europe and the Champions League to keep their star man. He told talkSPORT Bet: "Lewis Hall has signed a new contract but if Newcastle finish 16th or somewhere like that, he might get a little bit disillusioned, thinking, ‘I want to be playing in the Champions League, I'm playing for England, I need to be playing higher.’"
Positive start under Jaissle
Waddle added: "That's when offers start coming in and there could be movement. But for me, it's lovely to see him sign a new deal and get on with it. He seems settled there. Probably a future captain."
"So everything's looking great for Lewis Hall, and rightly so, he's deserved it. Since he went to Newcastle, he's worked hard, and the manager put a lot of confidence in him by the looks of it. He's carried that on now and been rewarded. He's England's left-back at the moment, so you can't get much higher than that."
Waddle feels that Newcastle have work to do in order to build on last season's 12th place finish and feels the Europa League should be the minimum target for Jaissle and his backroom staff. The Magpies have lost just one game from their first five in the Premier League.
Rebuilding after summer sales
Waddle believes that is more than respectable given Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and skipper Bruno Guimarares were sold in the summer. He said: "Matthias Jaissle has done all right. Listen, they've come out and played a positive style of football, which the fans up there love. They like to see the players on the front foot, and he's doing that."
"You've got to realise he lost three big players who were massive for Eddie Howe's team, and he's replaced them with young players, really. That's the direction Newcastle have gone in the market with the Saudi group."
"So far, you can say he's made a decent start. It's a long season, we know that. We'll see where they are by Christmas, whether they need to strengthen or if they're happy thinking, ‘We're doing nicely here.’ I'm sure the goal is Europa League at minimum. But at the start of the season, when you're losing your top three players, it's very hard to picture what's going to happen, and you've got to say the guy has done very well so far."
