Barcelona v Newcastle: The anti-Lamine Yanal backed to be one of the best in world

The stars appear to be aligned for both club and country.
The World Cup is a “motivating factor” for Hall and there are question marks over who will fill his position for England this summer.
Hall, who has played twice for his country, has yet to be called up under Thomas Tuchel after an injury-disrupted period in his fledgling career.
But that will surely change when the England manager announces his squad for friendly matches against Uruguay and Japan on Thursday.
Tuchel certainly knows him well.
The England manager gave Hall his Chelsea debut in 2022, when he was just 17, and watched the left-back play against his former club and Manchester City this month.
Hall was a highly regarded talent at Chelsea but has come a long way since Tuchel first tried him for a three against Chesterfield.
Arno Michels, Tuchel’s long-serving assistant at Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain, knows this better than most.
“It’s incredible to see how Lewis has developed and he’s still only 21.”
Still, Hall won’t get carried away.
Hall is, by nature, a level-headed character who doesn’t tend to look beyond the next play, and he is kept afloat by a close-knit family.
He never lost touch with his roots.
The defender still has a small circle of close friends from his hometown of Binfield, where it all began in Slough, and he has returned to the village in each of the last three summers to hand out trophies and medals in the annual junior football tournament in which he once played.
Hall has even returned as recently as 2024 to represent his local cricket club.
The left-back did not forget those who helped him along the way, such as former Chelsea under-23 manager Mark Robinson.
Hall even jumped into the stands to catch up with Robinson after Newcastle’s 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge at the weekend.
“There’s still a lot to do because Lewis is a very humble lad,” Robinson said.
“I don’t think that will ever change. You’ve got to keep learning, keep improving, and that’s what he’s going to do.”




