Chelsea warned they sold ‘one of the best defenders in world football’ for £28m

Chelsea have been warned they sold ‘one of the best defenders in world football’ for just £28m.

England international Lewis Hall joined Chelsea’s academy at the age of eight and signed his first scholarship with the Blues in 2021.

Hall was featuring for the Chelsea first team less than a year later, becoming the club’s youngest player to start an FA Cup game when he made his professional debut at the age of 18.

The talented left-back made his Premier League debut the following season but only made ten more appearances for Chelsea during what turned out to be his final year at the club.

Competition for places at Stamford Bridge led Hall to join Newcastle United in the summer of 2023, initially on loan but with an obligation to buy for £28m.

Chelsea’s former Academy Player of the Year hit the ground running at St James’ Park and has not looked back, establishing himself as one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

Hall, now 21, helped Newcastle win the Carabao Cup last season and qualify for the Champions League, a competition they have impressed in this term.

His form looks set to earn him a place in England’s squad for this summer’s World Cup, with many pundits of the opinion he should start under Thomas Tuchel.

Marc Cucurella has been a dependable left-back for Chelsea in recent years but it was still a questionable decision to sell Hall given, according to Harry Redknapp, he is now ‘one of the best defenders in world football’.

Explaining his decision to pick Hall in his Premier League Team of the Week after Newcastle’s 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Redknapp told BetVictor: ‘Lewis Hall is currently one of the best left-backs in world football.

‘What a week he’s had! He kept Lamine Yamal very quiet and then cruised it back at Stamford Bridge. Right now, the left-back spot for England looks like it will be his to lose.’

Chelsea legend Joe Cole has also bemoaned the departure of promising young players like Hall and Marc Guehi, who joined Manchester City from Crystal Palace in January.

‘The fans are not happy [with the owners],’ Cole said on The Dressing Room podcast. ‘Since the takeover, they’ve spent £1.5bn and they’ve posted massive losses.

‘They are four years into a five-year plan. It looks like, barring a miracle, they will be out of the Champions League. We need to talk about the strategy, the plan and where the club is going.

‘This model of buy young, develop, and put value on. I thought to myself it sounds like buy and sell.

‘Buy loads of players at 21, they will come into their prime at 25, and the average age of a Premier League-winning side is 27. Logically, buy them at 21, 22 or 23.

‘Seven-year deals, average age, develop, by the time they are 27, but it seems too data-driven, structured, without the nuance of having senior players, how important that is, the culture, getting fans onside.

‘We’re coming up to the fourth year of the masterplan. For all of the chaos of Roman Abramovich’s exit, the plan was always clear.

‘Buy the best players, get the best managers, win every trophy. If they lose games, managers were gone, players were gone, and everyone knew what was going to happen.

‘Clearlake have come in and gone, this is too structured, we’re going to try a new long-term plan. The first alarm bell to me is the number of managers sacked.

‘That tells me that it isn’t long-term thinking; it can’t be. If it’s long-term, you stick with a manager.

‘Cole Palmer at £40m has worked, Caicedo and Enzo were a lot of money but have worked. But there are lots that haven’t worked. There is a lot.

‘Players who have gone out the door as well like Hall and Livramento who could be in the England squad. Mason Mount hasn’t worked at Man United but he was a legend at Chelsea. Marc Guehi, now he’s starting for England.

‘Conor Gallagher, just to balance the books and make this long-term plan work, how long do you go down the road with this long-term plan before you go, we need to adjust. I feel like a broken record.’

The disappointing home defeat to Newcastle leaves Chelsea sixth in the Premier League, three points outside the top-four.

Liam Rosenior’s side will need to overturn a three-goal deficit against French champions PSG to advance in the Champions League after a painful defeat in Paris last week.

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