Juventus’ mad scramble to sign one final central defender before the January transfer window closes appears to finally be over.
For real this time.
According to reports from Romeo Agresti, Fabrizio Romano and others on Saturday, Juventus have closed a deal for Newcastle United center back Lloyd Kelly on an initial loan deal for the rest of the season. Unlike previous reported deals for Kevin Danso and others, Juventus will have an obligation to buy Kelly outright over the summer, according to Romano, with a price tag around €15 million. Newcastle will also reportedly have a sell-on clause as part of the deal.
Well, at least he won’t have to adjust to wearing an Adidas kit with black and white stripes, right?
The mad scramble can finally hit an end point now that Juventus have secured Kelly, who is likely to book his medical at some point this weekend prior to the winter transfer window closing on Monday. Juve have gone through what feels like a complete rolodex of options in the center of defense, and soon Kelly’s name will be added to that of Renato Veiga when it comes to players who have actually signed to add much-needed depth at the abck.
By no means is it a perfect solution, and the fact that Kelly is now moving clubs all of six months after joining Newcastle on a free from Bournemouth — gee, do they have any talented central defenders with ties to Juve? I’ll go check … — is a pretty clear sign of how he quickly became outside of their plans.
So just as long as this doesn’t go the route of Danso — and, in case you’re wondering, that’s added a few more chapters ever since talks with Lens fell apart — then Juventus will actually he adding another center back during a time in which just one of the central defenders that were on the roster at the beginning of the season is actually available to Thiago Motta right now.
