Tottenham’s 4-0 defeat at the hands of Newcastle on Saturday afternoon will reportedly see Chelsea pocket themselves a healthy £28million. The Magpies’ victory means that they cannot finish worse than 14th in the Premier League, so they are obliged to sign loanee Lewis Hall permanently.
Alexander Isak set the tone at St James’ Park on Saturday, bagging the opener after half an hour before Anthony Gordon made it 2-0 just two minutes later when pouncing on a mistake from Pedro Porro and firing past Guglielmo Vicario.
Isak then bagged his second in the 52nd minute, with Fabian Schar putting the icing on the cake with a towering header late on. The victory sees Newcastle move up to sixth place in the Premier League and enhances their claims of European football.
The win also means that it is impossible for the Magpies to finish any lower than 14th in the table, which reportedly confirms their first piece of transfer business this summer. According to Ben Jacobs, Eddie Howe’s side will now sign Hall from Chelsea as the criteria of the loan-to-buy deal has been met.
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Newcastle inserted a buyout clause in the deal which would allow them to sign Hall permanently for £28m as long as they avoided finishing in the bottom six places in the table, in what will provide Chelsea with some much-needed funds heading into the summer transfer window.
The versatile defender has made 12 league appearances since joining the Toon Army, starting just three matches. However, the 19-year-old is expected to develop into a key player on Tyneside, with some Chelsea supporters frustrated that the academy product was allowed to leave the club last summer.
