Report: Liverpool ‘closely monitoring’ £70m full-back who’s just had a ‘coming-of-age performance’
Liverpool are reportedly among several clubs keeping close tabs on a Premier League full-back who enjoyed an outstanding performance on the European stage in midweek.
Lamine Yamal may have scored a last-gasp equaliser from the penalty spot in Barcelona’s 1-1 draw at Newcastle in the Champions League, but before that the teenager was expertly shackled by Lewis Hall, who – in the words of Martin Hardy for The Times – had given a ‘coming-of-age performance’.
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Liverpool ‘closely monitoring’ Lewis Hall
According to sources for CaughtOffside, the Reds are joined by Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and several La Liga sides in ‘closely monitoring’ the Magpies defender, although no official bid has yet been made.
The Tyneside club are adamant that the 21-year-old is a ‘cornerstone’ of Eddie Howe’s project at St James’ Park and isn’t for sale despite ‘financial pressures’, and they intend to demonstate their faith in the left-back by preparing a new long-term contract which’d bring a ‘significant pay rise’
It’s added that the minimum figure to even bring Newcastle to the negotiating table is £65m-£70m.
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Liverpool could find it hard to prise Hall from Newcastle
Liverpool may well be in the market for a left-back in the summer if Andy Robertson doesn’t sign a contract extension, and Hall’s recent outings will certainly thrust him into the eye of clubs seeking to strengthen in that position.
The Magpies ace followed up his outstanding performance against Yamal and Barcelona with what Chronicle Live reporter Lee Ryder hailed ‘another Rolls-Royce display’ in his team’s 1-0 Premier League win at Chelsea on Saturday evening.
The youngster would tick a number of notable boxes for the Reds in terms of recruitment – age profile, English top-flight experience, homegrown status – and the importance of the latter was highlighted in a recent article in The Athletic, with LFC on the brink of their limits in that regard.
However, persuading Newcastle to part with Hall would be extremely difficult, not least for Liverpool after the tetchiness of the Alexander Isak transfer saga last summer, and the scale of competition for his signature would also prove challenging.
It’s hard to envisage Richard Hughes pulling off a deal for the Magpies left-back as it stands, but let’s see if the goalposts shift between now and the end of August.
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