Despite only arriving on Tyneside over the summer, there are reports today of a surprise bid for Newcastle United defender Lloyd Kelly.
Kelly arrived from Bournemouth in June last year, arriving on a free transfer after failing to agree a new deal at the Vitality.
So far, he’s started just one Premier League game since September, struggling to impress either at left-back or centre-back.
Turkish giants make ‘official offer’
According to reports in Turkey, Fenerbahce have made a move for Lloyd Kelly as Jose Mourinho looks to bring in a left-sided defender this month.
This comes from Super Lig journalist Sercan Hamzaoglu, who reports that the Fenerbahce have entered talks over a fee for the 26-year-old.
He even states that an official offer is on the table for Kelly, as he fits the profile Mourinho wants this month, presumably appealing as someone who can play at centre-back or left-back.
Fenerbahce have been in talks to sign Aston Villa’s Diego Carlos – a player previously linked with Newcastle during his time at Sevilla – so it’ll be interesting to see if this is them moving on or pushing Villa to lower their demands.
Time will tell if there’s any truth to this ‘bid’ – it’s the sort of rumour that could be shot down by the local media within minutes – but it’s fair to say Kelly’s first-team prospects don’t look great after falling down the pecking order in both of his favoured positions.
Kelly facing uphill battle already?
Kelly arrived as a free-agent squad signing, but his route to starts isn’t looking great for a couple of reasons.
Not only has he struggled to impress so far, he is behind Dan Burn in the pecking order after the Blyth-born defender’s consistent display as a left-sided centre-back.
Sven Botman is also fit again and the club are expected to sign anothr young centre-half in 2025, which could reduce his minutes even further.
The same can be said at left-back, where Lewis Hall has nailed down that role in Howe’s first XI and become one of the best players in his position across the Premier League.
There’s no doubt we still need cover at LCB and LB and I doubt Howe would entertain a move so soon after his arrival, but with PSR a constant barrier to spending, it will be interesting to see what the club do IF Fenerbahce really have come forward with a bid.
Good lad, but he isn’t in our best XI. We’ve got centre half cover with Burn, Botman, schar and hopefully soon Lacelles and Krafth back. We’ve got LB cover with Targett and Tripps. He’s one we can afford to lose. We talk about being smart traders, well surely this is a smart move. Any fee being pure profit and giving us that headroom we talk about.
Steve(Quote)
While any transfer fee would be mostly profit, it would be daft to sell him at this point.
Players who are capable of playing in multiple positions give us huge depth and while Kelly is not first choice in either position he does offer cover in both.
Having said that, maybe selling Kelly might allow us to keep Longstaff or Almiron.
Daveys **** mate(Quote)
Almost anybody outside our first 11 is available at an appropriate price
PremAndUp(Quote)
Never understood why we bought him yes Botman was injured but A Murphy is a more than capable back up to Burn and now Botman’s back we should cash in.
He’s not that good anyway imo been ropey in all the games he’s had minutes in.
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
Definitely sell as he is our second highest earner on £150k per week – no such thing as a free transfer!
P(Quote)
Tempting, both for a (tiny, I presume) fee and huge wages off the bill. He hasn’t set the world alight but has had at least one very decent show (Caraboa cup a couple of rounds ago, was it?) Don’t mind either way.
We never hear anything about Lascelles coming back.
davewallace(Quote)
We need to sell without thinking. One of the highest salaries in the club is for a reserve player. This deal was made by people who, to put it mildly, are not masters of negotiations. Even for 10-15 million, we need to give up
hmd(Quote)