Lloyd Kelly is nearing a permanent move to Juventus from Newcastle United.
In 2024, fans were excited to see what the 26-year-old had to offer after signing on a free transfer from Bournemouth. Less than a year later, the club are now preparing for his permanent exit.
Lloyd Kelly’s stint at Newcastle United can only be looked back on as disastrous. The defender did not play particularly poorly, but he was expected to be a useful backup to the likes of Dan Burn and Lewis Hall.
Eddie Howe is a big fan of Kelly. The Newcastle manager signed him at Bournemouth in 2019, but barely got to make use of him before leaving the Cherries after their relegation in 2020.
Kelly failed to stake his claim to be a regular member of Newcastle’s starting XI upon arrival, so the move to Juventus seemed like the best one for both parties. Newcastle will pocket around £20m for Kelly’s sale, a great bit of business by sporting director Paul Mitchell.
While Newcastle fans prepare to say their goodbyes to Kelly, an Italian journalist has said exactly why he thinks Juventus are making a huge mistake.
Italian media blast Lloyd Kelly ahead of Newcastle United exit
Since he joined Juventus on loan at the end of the January transfer window, the Italian media have been ruthless in their assessments of Kelly.
Kelly was slammed on his Juventus debut despite helping the Old Lady recover from a goal down to win 2-1 against Como. Elsewhere, Kelly was berated after making his Champions League debut, playing against Johan Bakayoko and PSV Eindhoven.
In March, Thiago Motta was sacked by Juventus and replaced with Igor Tudor. Kelly and Juventus’ performances have improved since then, but Gazetta Dello Sport journalist Mimmo Cugini has given his ruthless verdict on the Englishman.
“Considering what they paid for him, I think he is the most disastrous signing in the history of Juventus.” he said (via Football Italia).
“He is frankly embarrassing. I’ve seen him do things that we humans have never seen on a football field. Kelly is not reliable. The goal he allowed against Parma, at this level, was embarrassing.”
It has been confirmed that Kelly’s move to Juventus is all but confirmed. So Cugini will have to get used to seeing him play for the Serie A side more often.
Lloyd Kelly suffers injury setback ahead of Juventus move
Kelly seemed desperate to leave Newcastle. So desperate that he even opted to take a pay cut to join the Italian club.
While things did not get off to the best of starts at Juventus, he will slowly become more accustomed to the way Tudor wants him to play.
However, the remainder of Kelly’s season is in serious doubt after he suffered a hamstring injury during Juventus’ win against AC Monza in late April.
A Juventus statement read: “Lloyd Kelly, having reported a muscular problem in his right thigh at the end of last night’s match, underwent diagnostic tests at J|medical this morning which revealed a low-grade lesion of the biceps femoris.
“In about 10 days, new tests will be repeated to define the exact recovery times.”
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