Newcastle United allowed Lloyd Kelly to leave Juventus in the January transfer window.
The deal was done in no time – defender Lloyd Kelly was a late substitute for Newcastle United the day before he jetted to Italy to complete his move to Juventus.
Not many fans would have believed a brief cameo in Newcastle’s defeat to Fulham would potentially be his last for the Magpies. Kelly only signed six months prior but decided to move to the Italian giants in pursuit of more game time.
While Kelly has enjoyed more minutes for the Old Lady, it has not been the best of starts for him. Juventus fans blasted Kelly after his debut against Como in the Serie A.
Kelly made his Champions League debut against PSV on Tuesday night but did not do enough to impress the Italian media who slammed him for his performance. It is clear that Kelly has been thrown into the deep end and is currently struggling to get up to speed at his new club. However, Thiago Motta has been happy with Kelly despite opinions outside of the club.
As Kelly continues to settle in at Juventus, a new report from Italy has revealed a surprising move he made to force a move away from Newcastle.
- READ MORE – Joleon Lescott gives his honest opinion on former Newcastle star Lloyd Kelly’s Champions League debut
Lloyd Kelly took wage cut to leave Newcastle for Juventus
Life on Tyneside did not get off to the best start for Kelly after signing on a free transfer from Bournemouth in the summer.
Eddie Howe had high hopes for Kelly at Newcastle. Even in the days leading up to his departure, he was eager to keep him at the club considering he had only signed a five-year deal just a few months prior.
According to TuttoJuve, Kelly’s move to Juventus was helped by the defender taking a wage cut which seemed to accelerate the process.
Newcastle are set to bag £20m from Kelly’s deal. They received £3m for the initial loan and will pocket a further £17m if the Serie A side decides to make his move a permanent one. Despite his slow start to life in Italy, Juventus are ‘highly likely’ to sign him in the summer.
Kelly made just 14 appearances in all competitions for the Magpies before forcing the move away.
Newcastle could have signed another defender before Lloyd Kelly
While Kelly’s departure looks set to be a financial masterclass by sporting director Paul Mitchell, the Magpies came agonisingly close to signing another defender who ultimately went elsewhere.
Newcastle nearly signed Tosin Adarabioyo from Fulham on a free but the 27-year-old ultimately opted to sign for Chelsea as they were playing European football, unlike the Magpies who narrowly missed out.
After signing for Chelsea, Adarabioyo spoke to Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling which ultimately led to him rejecting the move to Tyneside in favour of an easier switch to Fulham’s local rivals.
Like Kelly’s move to Newcastle, Adarabioyo’s Chelsea switch has not turned out to be everything he thought it would be. The defender has played just 822 minutes in the Premier League so far as he struggles to play consistent first-team football in Chelsea’s overloaded squad.
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