Chelsea loans top academy prospect Lewis Hall to Newcastle and Mavropanos joins West Ham
LONDON (AP) — Chelsea has loaned out of one of its most talented academy prospects amid another transfer window of big spending by the Premier League club.
Lewis Hall, an 18-year-old left back, joined Newcastle on Tuesday on a season-long loan deal that includes an obligation for the Saudi-controlled northeast club to make the transfer permanent based on performance-related criteria.
Hall, a boyhood Newcastle fan, was named Chelsea’s academy player of the year for the 2022-23 season. But he is deemed surplus at Chelsea, which has spent more than $400 million on new players in this window to take its total outlay in the first three transfer windows in the new regime under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital beyond $1 billion.
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has Ben Chilwell and Levi Colwill as options at left back in a season when the team has no European involvement.
“Me and my family are Newcastle fans, and for me and my brother growing up, it was drilled into us that we were Newcastle,” Hall said. “It’s a big club and I can’t wait to get started.”
Hall made 12 appearances for Chelsea, starting in both Premier League matches against Newcastle last season.
Another defender on the move Tuesday was Greece international Konstantinos Mavropanos, who sealed a return to the Premier League by joining West Ham from Stuttgart.
Mavropanos joined Arsenal in 2018 but barely played and was sent on loan to Nurnberg and then Stuttgart. He signed a permanent deal with Stuttgart at the end of the 2021-22 season.
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