Lewis Hall is committed to Newcastle United as long as the club continues to show ambition.
Lewis Hall is the man of the moment at Newcastle United. A new contract signed, deserved England return and no longer in the shadow of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali or Anthony Gordon, this is his time to shine at St James’ Park.
Every cog of the Manchester United media machine tried to unsettle Hall over the summer. The lay-off already proved testing after cruelly being denied a World Cup call-up.
Ultimately, he shut down the speculation by penning a bumper five-year extension. Preferring to refocus quietly, the mild-mannered Hall tackled the summer setback head-on while blocking out the outside noise.
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“No, honestly, it didn't,” he told The Gazette when asked if the Man United talk impacted him. “I guess whenever you're linked with another team, you know that you're doing something right. I guess it's just a credit to your own performances and how you are as a player, how you are as a person. So I took that as a positive.
“At the same time, I knew how much I loved playing here, and since the manager came in, I knew the ambitions and what we wanted to achieve. After not many conversations, not many training sessions, I knew that the manager was going to be really good for this club.
“And I knew that as a team, bringing in new players and increasing the squad was really important. So it (the contract) was a no-brainer to sign.”
Toon fans are no longer under the illusion that star players will stay forever. The way Alexander Isak jumped ship left a scar - only for Gordon, Tonali and Guimaraes to follow suit 12 months later.
Reality has kicked in. Newcastle 1.0 saw the first team run while the club walked commercially. With the grown-ups back in the boardroom, there is renewed optimism that both sides of the operation can align so that, four years from now, the Magpies are not picked off again.
On the pitch, Hall epitomises the Newcastle 2.0 rebuild. Youthful, talented and hungry. If David Hopkinson’s utopian vision for 2030 domination becomes a reality, he will undoubtedly be front and centre.
Hall only turned 22 earlier this month but is now regarded as one of the key figureheads in the dressing room. While not part of the leadership group - which has become an unnecessary buzzword - everyone connected to Newcastle knows Hall is the prized asset.
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There was, however, a subtle caveat tucked inside Hall’s commitment. He wants to stay and grow with Newcastle - but the ambition has to remain. That is not a threat. It is the natural expectation of a player who believes he can reach the upper echelons of the game.
“Yeah, I think so,” Hall said about staying at Newcastle long-term. “When you're at a team, you don't think too far into the future. Obviously, I'm really grateful for the contract that I received and the chance that I've been given from the board, the manager and everything like that.
“But yeah, I'm just taking it game by game at a time (and) trying to do the best I can for this club. We've got ambitions and, as long as we achieve these ambitions and achieve what we want to achieve, I'm sure I'll be here for a long time.”