Joelinton has got himself a new Newcastle United teammate.
The 27-year-old is currently enjoying the post-season break, but has been keeping an eye on what has been going on at St James’ Park.
And there was a major announcement on Thursday, with Newcastle United confirming the arrival of their first summer signing.
Newcastle United announce signing of Lloyd Kelly
After months of speculation, Lloyd Kelly was finally unveiled as a Newcastle player on Thursday.
The 25-year-old has joined the Magpies on a free transfer, signing a five-year deal to move to the North East when his Bournemouth contract expires on June 30th.
Eddie Howe is delighted to get the deal done, heralding Kelly for his versatility and leadership skills. He has worked with Kelly before at Bournemouth, and is excited to link back up with the defender.
It is a great bit of business, with Toon officials giving Howe a bit more depth in defence without having to pay a transfer fee.
Kelly welcomed to St James’ Park by Joelinton
Hopefully it does not take Kelly long to settle in at St James’ Park, and he has already received a welcome message from one of his new teammates.
The club shared a picture of Kelly wearing the new Adidas home shirt, which prompted a reply from Joelinton.
The Brazil international commented: “Welcome to the family my friend.”
Kelly responded, writing: “Thanks bro.”
The former Bristol City defender also received messages of good luck from Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert, who no longer have the honour of calling Kelly a teammate.
Solanke commented: “Let’s go my bro.”
Kluivert replied: “Good luck brother.”
Joelinton and Lloyd Kelly could link up next season
It is great to see Joelinton welcome Kelly to Tyneside.
Given the unity in the squad, you just know that Eddie Howe’s players will work hard to make sure that Kelly feels welcome, and he has the added benefit of signing for the club early. That means he will be there on the first day of pre-season, rather than having to arrive midway through the summer.
We may even see Kelly and Joelinton form a partnership in black and white next season, depending on what Howe’s tactical plans for both players are.
Kelly is predominantly a centre-back, but he is also capable of playing as a left-back. As for Joelinton, he is seen as a centre-midfielder, but can also operate on the left wing. In fact, Howe had intended to use Joelinton on the left of attack more regularly last season, but was not able to because of injury.
Now there could a situation where the Magpies’ left flank consists of Kelly in defence and Joelinton in attack, which would be an extremely physical combination.
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