Eddie Howe names Newcastle United ‘standout’ in Sela Cup win

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Newcastle United had some new faces on show for their final pre-season game.

Will Osula had the ball in the back of the net on his Newcastle debut as Eddie Howe’s side won the Sela Cup with a victory over Brest, although the striker’s effort was chalked off due to a marginal offside call.

Still, there were some promising signs from the former Sheffield United forward, with the obvious caveat that pre-season games are not always indicative of what is to come.

Osula was not the only new face at St James’ Park. Indeed, Lloyd Kelly was involved in the build-up to the disallowed goal, playing the ball out from the back to Harvey Barnes, who chipped it into the striker’s path.

Howe has already hinted Kelly could be in from the start against Southampton when the Premier League begins next weekend and was pleased with his performance on Saturday.

Eddie Howe hails Lloyd Kelly as a Newcastle “standout”

Reflecting on the win to send Newcastle into the new season, Howe hailed Kelly was one of the team’s standout performers.

“I was really pleased with Lloyd today, I thought he was one of our standout performers,” he said (via Dominic Scurr of the Shields Gazette on social media platform X).

“I thought he looked really good on the ball, very mobile and athletic, defended really well.”

Lloyd Kelly could be a great signing for Newcastle

Such were the defensive issues at Newcastle last season, it makes sense that Howe would be chasing the signing of Marc Guehi to go alongside Kelly as reinforcements to the backline.

While the excitement about potentially signing Guehi is certainly understandable, Kelly could be equally as adept an addition.

Experienced in the Premier League, familiar with Howe’s methods from their time at Bournemouth, and capable of operating at both left-back and central defence, Kelly has all the conditions to hit the ground running at Newcastle.

He may not be the most glamorous of names but, as CEO Darren Eales has said, the more understated signings could in fact be huge for Newcastle.