Newcastle United have already agreed 'reluctant' summer transfer after five-year deal signed

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Eddie Howe admitted he was ‘very reluctant’ for Newcastle United to lose Lloyd Kelly to Juventus on transfer deadline day.

Kelly joined Newcastle on a free transfer in the summer, signing a five-year deal. But just six months and four Premier League starts later, Kelly left the club to join Juventus on an initial loan deal with an obligation to buy totalling around £20million.

Reflecting on Kelly’s departure, Howe said: “I don't think it was necessarily my decision to let him leave.

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“We were very reluctant from our side. Lloyd is a player who has just recently signed and we believed in him and his qualities. It was frustrating for him that he hadn't played more, in part down to the other players around him.

“But we are in the world and we have been in this window of trying to manage PSR and trying to make decisions that will benefit us in the long term. This is one of those decisions.

“Lloyd leaves with our best wishes. I'm sure he'll do well in Italy and it's an exciting challenge for him.”

Juventus had an initial bid turned down for Kelly earlier in the transfer window before returning with a second offer that was ultimately accepted by Newcastle following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Fulham. Kelly was a late substitute in the match before flying to Turin the following day to complete his move to the Serie A side.

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When asked how the move came about from his perspective, Howe told The Gazette: “Probably similar to how it broke to everybody else. Hearing things through the correct channels that there's an interest in Lloyd and it's getting to the levels that the club will listen to.

“Obviously, regarding Saturday, I was treating Lloyd like I would any other player and trying to make the best decision to help us in the game.

“I said right at the start in the build-up to the window it's not a case of looking at incomings, it was more a case of trying to manage outgoings and not weaken the squad too much. But we also future plan and make sure we control everything in terms of our PSR level.

“I think we've done that, it's been successful on that side. The squad now is lighter in numbers but high in quality so for us managing injuries will be a big part of what we do now. There's still no reason why we can't be successful but hopefully the future looks a bit brighter for us now.”

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Was there any scope for Newcastle United to sign players in the winter transfer window?

Despite the exits of Miguel Almiron and Lloyd Kelly, Howe claimed that there was no scope for Newcastle to make any major signings before Monday’s transfer deadline. Newcastle will receive an initial loan fee for Kelly before the obligation to buy transfer fee gets added to the club’s PSR calculations in the summer.

“No [Kelly transfer] did not give us any positive headroom to bring a player in,” Howe said. “We knew from the off this month we weren’t in the incoming market. It was about controlling sales that navigated us out of a problem.

“So that’s where we were the whole month, and it never changed.”

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