'Confirmed' Chelsea transfer set to impact Newcastle United after surprise offer

Chelsea have confirmed that defender Renato Veiga has left the club on a temporary basis until the end of the season. Veiga, who moved to Stamford Bridge from FC Basel in the summer, has joined Juventus on-loan until the end of the season.

The Portuguese international has played 18 times for Chelsea this season, although only seven of those appearances have come in the Premier League, with a further six coming in their Conference League campaign with Enzo Maresca having the luxury of naming a completely different starting XI from domestic to European matches - such is the size of the squad he has at his disposal.

However, Veiga will not be someone he can call on between now and the end of the season, with the 21-year-old set to spend the remainder of the campaign at Serie A giants Juventus. The 36-time champions of Italy currently sit fifth in the league table, a mammoth 16 points behind leaders Napoli.

Juventus’ bid to improve their standing in Serie A has seen them linked with a whole host of players this month, including Newcastle United defender Lloyd Kelly. Kelly, who only moved to St James’ Park in the summer, has found gametime limited in the north east and previously had interest from Fenerbahce earlier this month.

However, with the Turkish club moving away from Kelly, Juventus have emerged as potential candidates for his signature. Newcastle United have not received a bid that matches their valuation of Kelly, though, with Eddie Howe revealing last week that the defender remains an ‘integral part’ of his plans:

“I've seen a little bit of the speculation on Lloyd,” Howe said. “We've certainly not had any bid anywhere close to making the club make a decision on that.

“Lloyd's an integral part of what we're doing from my perspective. His challenge is to try and work his way into the team. He's only just arrived, so I think he's got a lot to achieve here. So, a very different situation [to Miguel Almiron’s imminent move to Atlanta United].

“It's not ideal [speculation], but I haven't seen Lloyd distracted. I haven't seen a player whose head and heart are not in Newcastle, which is really important for me. If that was the case, then I'd certainly be addressing that with him.

“He's trained well. He's fighting for a place and that's what I expect him to do.”

Juventus’ capture of Veiga likely means that their desperation to get a deal for Kelly over the line has lessened in the last day or two, despite lots of noise from Italy suggesting that they are still interested in a loan move for the Magpies man. Kelly, meanwhile, will be keen to impress Howe the next time he is offered the chance to start for the Magpies. That could come when they travel to St Andrew’s for their FA Cup Fourth Round meeting against Birmingham City on Saturday 8 February (5:45pm kick-off).