The transfer rumour mill is now in full flow and Newcastle United no exception.
United constantly linked with countless players.
We all know that the overwhelming proportion of transfer ‘stories’ are total nonsense. So many ‘journalists’, so much ‘media’, trying to make money from putting out claims that clubs (including/especially Newcastle United) are going to be signing whoever.
One such transfer story I spotted today (Monday 15 June 2026) stood out even more than usual, as in, you will believe absolutely anything if you believe this one.
Over in Italy, TuttoJuve report that Newcastle United are battling it out with Aston Villa to sign Lloyd Kelly, with Nottingham Forest also claimed to be interested.
The TuttoJuve report says that Juventus are not desperate to sell Lloyd Kelly but that this would change if a club offered them €35m (approximately £30.2m) for the central defender.
I don’t think that it is impossible that Lloyd Kelly will end up back in the Premier League at some point BUT it won’t be at Newcastle United.
I think he is a decent defender who didn’t really get enough of a run in the team when he was at Newcastle for us to judge him, only six starts in all competitions and seven sub appearances for NUFC. A great signing by Eddie Howe though, as the NUFC boss convinced his former Bournemouth player to join as a free agent in summer 2024, then only six months later traded him on to Juventus in a deal that would eventually net Newcastle United close to £20m (the financial breakdown of that deal is below, having been made public by Juventus at the time).
Lloyd Kelly moved on an initial loan deal to Turin on 3 February 2025 and that became permanent in June 2025, having been triggered by a minimal number of appearances that were needed.
Lloyd Kelly has done okay for Juventus and as well as nine Champions League starts last season, he played in 35 of the 38 Serie A matches last season, starting 33 of them. Juvenus finished sixth in Serie A last season but only two clubs conceded less goals than them.
However, the idea that Newcastle United would pay over £10m more than they banked for him, for a player who will turn 28 in October, is laughable.
You also of course have the fact that central defence is one of the areas where Newcastle United have strength in depth (unlike many other areas of the pitch…), with Botman, Thiaw, Burn and Schar all in the squad.
Juventus official confirmation of details on the Lloyd Kelly deal (loan leading to permanent move) – 3 February 2025:
‘Agreement with Newcastle for the acquisition of the player Kelly
Turin, 3 February 2025
Juventus Football Club S. p. A. announces that an agreement with Newcastle United Football Club for the temporary acquisition, until 30 June 2025, of the registration rights of the player Kelly Lloyd Casius has been reached for a consideration of €3 million (approx £2.5m) for sporting season 2024/2025, with additional costs of up to €0.8 million (approx £0.66m).
The agreement further entails the obligation for Juventus to definitely acquire the player’s registration rights, subject to the achievement of certain sporting objective during the season 2024/2025. The agreed consideration for the definitive acquisition is €14.5 million (approx £12.0m), payable in three financial years, with additional costs of up to €2.7 million (approx £2.24m). This consideration may be increased up to a consideration of €6.5 million (approx £5.4m) over the duration of the player’s contract, upon the achievement of further performance objectives.
Given the high probability of the conditions for the player’s acquisition being achieved, this transaction for accounting purposes, qualifies as a definitive effective acquisition from today for a total amount of €17.5 million (approx £14.5m), plus additional costs. It should be noted that the final evaluations about the accounting recognition of the transaction will be performed for the preparation of the Annual Financial Report as of 25 June 2025.’