Newcastle complete £15m sale + add-ons - Fabrizio Romano confirms transfer boost

It's only May and the summer transfer window doesn't officially open until June, but it looks like Newcastle United's first piece of outgoing business is already complete.

Incomings will be the theme of what promises to be a busy summer window, although player trading will also help boost Eddie Howe's budget as we look to bring in a goalkeeper, centre-back, right-winger and striker at the very minimum.

And, on the subject of sales, we've already secured an immediate profit on a certain player Howe pushed to sign just last summer, with a major update arriving this afternoon on Lloyd Kelly.

Romano confirms Kelly sale

Lloyd Kelly will not be returning to Newcastle United this summer, with a permanent move to Juventus now 'confirmed.'

As revealed by Fabrizio Romano, Juventus have now activated their obligation to buy the former Bournemouth defender, who will earn Newcastle an initial €17.5m (£15m) plus add-ons.

In a post on X on Thursday afternoon, Romano said: 'Juventus confirm obligation to buy clause for Lloyd Kelly has now been activated for €17.5m with add-ons.

'It was always a permanent move planned with no chance of return to Newcastle but now formally completed.'

Appearances key to trigger move?

For several months, the Italian media had led us to believe that Kelly's permanent transfer to Juventus would hinge on the Serie A giants qualifying for Europe via a top-six finish.

However, it looks like Turin-based outlet Il Biancanerot were bang on in their report released earlier this week, where they revealed that the move would soon be triggered via simple appearance-based conditions that Kelly has already met.

They saod: ‘Juventus looks to the future and does so with one more certainty: Lloyd Kelly will be a permanent Bianconero. No official announcement for now, but the reality is that the redemption from Newcastle has already taken place.

‘And no, it has nothing to do with European cups. No clauses tied to the Champions League, Europa League or even the Conference. The fate of the young Englishman was already sealed, and his permanence in Turin is a question of… numbers. Appearances, to be precise.

‘When the agreement between Juventus and Newcastle for the loan of Kelly was discussed , there was much speculation about the criteria for the automatic redemption. The most widespread narrative was linked to a “European” condition: if Juve had finished in one of the top seven positions, the redemption would have been triggered.

‘But the truth is another, more subtle and also more interesting: among the clauses provided for, a minimum threshold of appearances in the season, easily reachable, triggered the obligation to purchase.’