Newcastle United in talks for second January transfer as Fabrizio Romano reveals Chelsea negotiations
Newcastle United defender Lloyd Kelly has been linked with a surprise January transfer exit six months after joining the club.
Kelly arrived at Newcastle as a free transfer following his release from AFC Bournemouth but has been limited to just four Premier League starts so far this campaign. The form of Lewis Hall and Dan Burn paired with the return of Sven Botman from injury has seen Kelly drop down the pecking order in both the left-back and left-sided centre-back positions in Eddie Howe’s side.
Last week, Turkish club Fenerbahce made a transfer bid to sign Kelly that was promptly rejected by Newcastle. Jose Mourinho’s side then made a move to sign Aston Villa defender Diego Carlos instead.
While Kelly may not be heading to Turkey this month, Italian side Juventus have now emerged as fresh contenders for his signature. Newcastle have already rejected a verbal bid from Juventus to loan Kelly with an option to buy at the end of the season.
While Eddie Howe ideally wants to keep Kelly as part of his squad, much like Miguel Almiron, the lack of guaranteed starts makes him a sellable asset this month. Juventus are planning to return with an offer around £12.7million to test Newcastle’s resolve.
According to Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Juventus held negotiation meetings over the potential signing of Kelly this transfer window. The Turin club are also targeting Chelsea’s Renato Veiga who, like Kelly, can play at left-back and left-sided centre-back.
Veiga was not part of Chelsea’s matchday squad on Monday night’s 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers while Kelly was an unused substitute in Newcastle’s 4-1 defeat to his former club AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.