Newcastle United loanee Lloyd Kelly has endured a rocky start to his career with Juventus.
Just two games into his stint in Italy, the former AFC Bournemouth man has been blasted in the press in both of his opening matches. Despite being on the team that beat Como 2-1 on his Serie A debut, Kelly was accused of not coming out on top with his personal duels and physical battles.
Then against PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs, Kelly was turned too easily in the box by former Inter Milan ace Ivan Perisic who then guided home to score a valuable goal to keep the score at 2-1.
The Magpies have already secured a £3million loan fee for Kelly and that will rise significantly before the end of the season.
Newcastle will net £20million in total for Kelly at the end of the season providing that Juventus qualify for a European competition next term. The moment that place in Europe is secure, Kelly will be Juventus’ player for keeps and Newcastle will pocket the entire fee – according to sources in Turin.
As things stand Thiago Motta’s side are sitting in a Europa League spot with 43 points and 14 games to go in fifth place. Sixth place in Serie A would earn Juventus a Europa Conference League spot and they have a five-point gap between themselves and AC Milan.
Motta’s side are also still in the Coppa Italia, a competition they won last season when beating Atalanta 1-0 in Rome, and face a last eight tie against Empoli. Should Juventus win the Italian Cup they will automatically qualify for the Europa League play-offs, increasing the chances of Kelly being offloaded.
With Juventus still in the Champions League they have an outside shot of something really special in Europe but are still in Italy’s race for the top four, a Europa League slot and Europa Conference League place, any of which would see Kelly sold.
Kelly, meanwhile, hasn’t enjoyed the most comfortable of starts to life in Turin. He made his debut in a 2-1 win over Como on Friday, replacing Nicolo Savona in the right-back position at half-time. However, his performance came under fire from those watching on, receiving a 5.5 from all Italian papers.
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