Newcastle United are closing in on their first signing of the summer.
The Magpies are on the brink of signing Lloyd Kelly on a free transfer from Bournemouth, in a deal that will delight Eddie Howe.
The pair worked together at Bournemouth, with Howe being the one to bring Kelly to the Vitality Stadium back in 2019. He cost £13million from Bristol City five years ago, yet now he is available on a free.
Newcastle United are getting themselves a bargain, as well as a player who knows what the manager is all about. It has been reported that the 25-year-old is excited to work with Howe again, which speaks volumes about his ability as a manager.
It is great news that his deal is nearing completion, with Kelly agreeing a five-year contract to move to St James’ Park – despite Bournemouth wanting to retain the defender.
Lloyd Kelly always wanted Newcastle United transfer
They will be disappointed to lose a player of Kelly’s quality for nothing, and the Northern Echo’s Scott Wilson has stated that Kelly turned down multiple offers to stay at Bournemouth, such was his desire to move to Newcastle.
He has been speaking about the Kelly deal on the Fully Loaded Transfer Show, and has explained why Newcastle United have always been very confident about getting this transfer over the line.
“The indication right from the word go was that he was turning down offers at Bournemouth because he wanted to come to Newcastle,” he said.
“That gave Newcastle security and confidence that, even if other clubs came in, the deal would get done.
“Then it was a case of getting everything sorted deal wise. I’m told it wasn’t a particularly difficult deal to get done.”
Medical next on the agenda for Lloyd Kelly and Newcastle
Based on what Wilson has said, it does not sound like it has been particularly challenging to get Kelly to move up north.
That is great to hear, and probably explains why there were not too many rumblings about him going elsewhere. The Kelly rumour mill did go rather quiet, while it was extremely loud during the pursuit of Tosin Adarabioyo.
That was a very different situation, with multiple clubs vying for his signature. Newcastle thought they were going to get it, only for Chelsea to swoop in.
That will have left the Magpies feeling rather annoyed, but they never had to have any such fears regarding Kelly. He wanted to move to Newcastle, so much so that he was turning down Bournemouth’s attempts to keep him.
Now he will become Newcastle’s first signing of the summer, with the centre-back having a medical on Tyneside today (Wednesday, June 12th).
This is ahead of the transfer window officially opening on Friday, while his current Bournemouth contract will expire on June 30th. Once Kelly arrives, Newcastle will turn their attention towards signing a winger, a striker and a right-sided centre-back.
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