**England boss Thomas Tuchel was the man who handed Lewis Hall his first-team debut at Chelsea before his big-money move to Newcastle United.**
During his days as Chelsea boss, Tuchel was impressed with Hall and gave him a shot in the first team which ultimately brought him to the Magpies’ attention.
Hall signed for Newcastle on an initial year-long loan with an obligation to buy for £28 million, rising to £32 million with add-ons.
It was a slow start for the young full-back, but after some intense training with Eddie Howe to work on the defensive part of his game, Hall was given a shot in Newcastle’s first team and the 21-year-old has never looked back.
For our money, Hall has been Newcastle’s Player of the Season. We can barely think of a single bad game. He’s had moments, of course, that’s only natural when you consider how inconsistent Newcastle have been as a team, but overall, he’s always been solid and slick on the ball.
His consistency at such a high level has seen him rightfully called up for England by his old boss Thomas Tuchel, who has [told reporters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht-CGf5AFLI) on Monday that he has been impressed with Hall at Newcastle, hailing his development in recent years.
> _“Lewis Hall, I know from Chelsea. He came to our training as a young boy from the Academy.
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> _“Lewis has had a very good season, since he has been regularly starting for Newcastle. He has had a very good season individually in the Champions League campaign.”_
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> _“He plays at a very high level and interesting to see him. He grew a lot since I last saw him on the pitch and I am happy to welcome him back.”_
Hall was given some minutes in England’s bore draw with Uruguay on Friday, but will be hoping to start the game against Japan on Tuesday night.
It’s a crucial time for Hall to show Tuchel exactly what he’s capable of before the German makes his final selections for his World Cup squad, although we’re sure Hall’s place is assured at this point.
There doesn’t seem to be a pundit out there who feels anyone other than Lewis Hall should be England’s starting left-back in the summer, it’s just whether Tuchel sees it the same way.