Juventus have officially announced the signing of Newcastle United center-back Lloyd Kelly.
Welcome to our newest Juventus player, Lloyd Kelly! ⚪⚫
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) February 3, 2025
Kelly joins on an initial loan with a fee of €3 million, with an obligation to buy attached for €14.5 million. The obligation is conditional, but the conditions are so easy to meet that the team’s press release says it’s being treated as a definitive acquisition.
Kelly joined the Magpies this summer on a free transfer after running down his contract with Bournemouth. But he never really got going at St. James’ Park, and was far enough out of the picture that they felt comfortable sending him to Juve despite having just signed him to a five-year free agent contract. Juve turned to him after their first target, Lille’s Kevin Danso failed his medical—the second time in as many windows he’s failed a medical for an Italian club.
Kelly’s best year to date came in the English Championship in 2021-22, when he played 41 times and helped Bournemouth to promotion. He was only booked five times in those 41 games, and it was that performance that saw him break out as a prospect.
Injuries kept him to 23 league games each of the past two years, and is likely why Bournemouth decided to let him go over the summer. Ironically, Kelly’s replacement at Bournemouth was Dean Huijsen—who Juve are probably kicking themselves over using as plusvaleza right now.
A center-back who can also flex out to the left, Kelly is a pacy defender, which is something Juve’s central defense generally lacks. He’s also strong building play from the back, which is an important skill for any defender in Thiago Motta’s system.
Kelly’s arrival gives Juve some more center-back depth just in time to cover for the recent injury to Pierre Kalulu. Hopefully Kalulu won’t be out too long, and Kelly can take his place as a rotational piece in the back along with Renato Veiga.
Cristiano Giuntoli and Motta clearly think Kelly can be a working piece of the puzzle in the future if they were willing to include an obligation to buy. Right now, though, if he’s playing significant minutes between now and the end of the season, either he’ll have shocked everyone by playing well enough to force the issue—giving Giuntoli two hits on castaway center-backs this season—or something will have gone horribly wrong with the rest of the depth chart.
Other moves may still be in the works as the window ends, so continue to watch this space.
