Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento's futures have taken different paths, but both are concerning for Newcastle

Lewis Hall has escaped the pressure cooker that is a misfiring Newcastle United to emerge into the sunlit uplands of England.

A player who has firmly established his international credentials after the agony of missing out on the World Cup finals, Hall has been in danger of being dragged down by United's depressing results and performances.

Lewis, a boyhood Magpie fan despite being born way south of here, remained steadfastly loyal while others rushed for the lifeboats. Indeed he committed himself to a new long-term contract as a show of faith when Manchester United were displaying persistent interest in an effort to solve their problem position.

However after starting the season full of vim and vigour Hall has become bogged down like so many others despite being by far United's most talented player.

That's why international fortnight will represent a release valve, though I must stress I'm worried that if things continue in the same way the end of the season will encourage him to seek pastures new both to safeguard his England place and enhance his career prospects.

It would mean a move to a much more successful club than Man U are these days of course.

Having lost Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes while pretending to still make progress, Newcastle can ill afford to surrender one of their few remaining assets.

Therefore United need to lift themselves out of their leaden form to encourage a player Matthias Jaissle rates above all others to remain by his side.

Indeed if Jaissle is to survive then it is players like Hall who will help him to do it. We need to buy more like him, not sell the one we have got.

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Still only 22 years of age, he has already made 115 appearances for the Mags as he plays his fourth season here. That is a figure that could soar . . . if we can give him a reason to remain a Faithful and not a Traitor!

As far as ability is concerned it could be argued that Tino Livramento is at the same level as Hall. He looks as sleek as a Ferrari when on football's highway.

However sadly there is a huge difference. Tino is injury-prone big time. It's bad for us but a darned sight worse for him as it seriously threatens to derail a bright, young career.

Livramento will be only 24 on the 21st of this month, fractionally older than Hall, and is also in his fourth term as a Magpie but has played less games and only has three appearances as a sub to his record this season.

Glance at his stats and his problem comes bounding off the page. He has failed to make 20 starts over all competitions in two of his three years. Only 2024-25 has seen a respectable return of 38 matches with another seven as sub.

Indeed but for a fragile body Livramento would be with Hall on England duty right now. He was picked for the World Cup, unlike Lewis, but had to pull out on the eve of the tournament through recurring injury.

Of course we expected to lose him during the mass walk-out with Manchester City ready to do business before a detailed look at his medical record brought a rowing back on the idea.

Livramento had refused a new contract and was sitting in a crowded departure lounge.

However instead of him going United were forced to buy a right-back themselves, Amar Dedic, to play while he fought yet another fitness setback.

Sadly it was ever thus even before Tino joined us. As long ago as April 24, 2022 he was ruled out for the remainder of that year following an ACL injury sustained during Southampton's match with Brighton.

He returned after 392 days of rehab on May 21, 2023 as a sub in the last quarter of an hour of a game ironically against Brighton again. Three months later Newcastle signed Livramento for an initial outlay of £32m plus £8m in add-ons.

The question now is: what happens with two naturally talented young full-backs who I once thought would form a long-lasting partnership at Newcastle to rival David Craig and Frank Clark. For varying reasons that idealistic hope is under real threat.