Jason Cundy fears Chelsea’s flawed transfer policy means they have allowed a player with the potential to play for Real Madrid to leave the club for just £28million.
The Blues’ Clearlake owners are under the spotlight again following a worrying run of form that has seen them crash out of Europe and lose significant ground in the race for Champions League qualification.
Last weekend’s morale-sapping 3-0 defeat at Everton represented another blow for rookie manager Liam Rosenior who has now presided over five defeats in the last seven matches in all competitions.
The decision to oust Enzo Maresca in January already looks to have been the wrong one even if Chelsea maintain their current manager’s position is not under threat, regardless of how the rest of the campaign pans out.
Whether they will remain true to their word remains to be seen but, in any case, Rosenior appears to be the latest manager to be suffering from a transfer strategy that has seen Chelsea refuse to sign experienced players and lose some their best homegrown players.
Lewis Hall certainly fits the latter category with the 21-year-old thriving at Newcastle to the extent whereby he could well start for England at the upcoming World Cup in the summer.
Sold for a bargain price 18 months ago, the left-back will get a chance to further enhance his international hopes in the upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
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Cundy, meanwhile, believes it won’t be long until Newcastle are fielding offers from Europe’s elite clubs and wouldn’t be surprised to see the defender snapped up by Real.
‘I would say so,’ said Cundy when asked who would start at left-back for Thomas Tuchel’s England side at the World Cup.
‘Nico O’Reilly’s had a great spell as well…they’re technically both midfielders, Hall was a midfielder at Chelsea.
‘I think that consistently, Lewis Hall has been, without a doubt, for me, the best English left back in the country.
‘He has had a brilliant season, he’s top drawer all over the pitch. He attacks, his positional sense, his weight of cross, his pass, his energy levels.
‘He knows when to support the wide man, knows when to overlap, he’s a brilliant player.
‘Lewis Hall, from when I saw him at Chelsea to now…I think he could actually move to a top five or six club in the world.
‘I think he’s got that in him, I’m not joking, he could be at Real Madrid. I think he could be that good.
‘It’s a big statement, but I’ve seen him develop and Newcastle fans won’t thank me for saying this, but he really is that good.
‘I think he could [go on to play for Real Madrid]. You think about other left-backs around the world, we’ll see this summer where he really is.
‘He is top, top drawer.’
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