The £35m option Newcastle United were once deprived of aiming to haunt Chelsea

Lewis Hall finally finally gets the chance to step on to the field as a Newcastle United player at Stamford Bridge this weekend after conditions of his transfer from Chelsea in 2023 left him sidelined.

The Magpies actually got clearance to use Hall in the Carabao Cup last season during the quarter-final defeat at the hands of then boss Mauricio Pochettino but opted against it. So the big Premier League stage door now swings open for the 20-year-old this weekend and how he will relish it.

A lot of Chelsea fans couldn't believe Hall was allowed to leave last pre-season as a £35million deal was agreed on condition a successful loan was completed. But he had senior stars ahead of him at the Bridge and even now would he get a game ahead for Marc Cucurella or back-up Portuguese international ace Renato Veiga?

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The answer is probably no, but what type of player will Chelsea come up against compared to the fledgling left-sided star that only really broke into the Blues team in 2022/23? Well, Hall has been a starter this season compared to last term when Eddie Howe bedded him in slowly.

He is very much an attacking full-back but has saw his performances critiqued by pundits for the defensive side of his game. Former Republic of Ireland international John Anderson told BBC Radio Newcastle: "I have doubts about him from a defensive point of view. Some of the positions he takes up aren't great.

"I think it is mainly the case that he isn't defensive-minded. He wants to get on the ball, he wants to get forward, he wants to join in, which I know is your modern-day full-back and I appreciate that, but when it comes to defending you have got to do it.

"You have to be in the right areas, you can't leave holes in behind you and, in the games he has played this season, they have been there for everyone to see."

Hall admitted himself he had things to brush up on when he first arrived and said: "I wasn't at that level when I first joined." This season he has impressed fans with his forward runs but has only been part of a defence that has managed two clean sheets.

Although, Newcastle have only conceded eight Premier League goals in total from eight matches. Three of those eight came away to Fulham when Hall spent the first half on the bench.

Hall did well against Brighton and wasn't at fault for the goal Newcastle conceded and should start at the Bridge this weekend. It's a game he will need no motivation for, not to prove anybody wrong, simply to prove those right who were disappointed to see him sold.

Fans know what Hall can bring in terms of crossing ability but also his two goals at Man United last season, when he banged in two thunderbolts at the Stretford End on two occasions, show he is a player to be feared.