Newcastle United unannounced new signing spotted at Etihad as Eddie Howe drops hint

Lewis Hall watched Newcastle United’s 1-0 defeat at Premier League champions Manchester City from the Etihad Stadium stands.

The England under-21s left-back travelled to Tyneside on Friday afternoon to finalise his move from Chelsea after the Magpies agreed an initial season-long deal with a £28million obligation to buy next summer.

Hall underwent his medical and club media duties at the club’s Darsley Park training ground. Newcastle are yet to officially announce his arrival but head coach Eddie Howe hinted at a completed transfer after openly discussing the 18-year-old after last night’s game.

Asked what the on-watching Hall would have learned about Newcastle, Howe said: “I think he’ll have probably seen the quality of the game but I don’t think that will surprise him coming from Chelsea. I think he’ll learn a little bit from looking at us, maybe for one of the first times exactly how we play and what we do.”

Having spent a British record £115m on Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo - taking Chelsea’s spending under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital led consortium to £900m - the West London club need to raise funds in order to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.

Newcastle themselves have spent around £130m on signing Yankuba Minteh, Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento this summer. The Hall deal is set to signal an end to the club’s summer transfer business.

The England youth international featured 11 times for Chelsea last season and started both Premier League fixtures against Newcastle, where he was named The Blues’ player of the match in the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge back in May.