Lloyd Kelly shambles sums up the class of Eddie Howe | OneFootball

Eddie Howe paid £13m to Bristol City when Lloyd Kelly signed for Bournemouth in 2019, five years later having given great service the defender ran his contract down, the pair reunited when the Newcastle United Head Coach convinced the left-footed defender to sign for NUFC with no transfer fee paid, then seven months later a deal agreed with Juventus that will eventually net United £20m.

A stunning piece of Eddie Howe business on behalf of Newcastle United.

The class of the NUFC boss not ending there though, as Juventus have now clearly highlighted.

On the night of Monday 3 February, Juventus confirmed (see below) that Lloyd Kelly had signed for them and explained the financial details of the deal.

The Serie A club then four days later gave Lloyd Kelly his debut. On Friday 7 February it saw Juventus lucky to be 1-1 at the break away to Como, then with their left-back already booked, Lloyd Kelly playing all of the second half and Juventus not conceding further, winning that league match 2-1. The Italian media going way over the top with their criticism of the new signing, who wasn’t great in that first 45 minutes, but not as bad as they were making out.

Another four days later, only eight days after signing, Juventus giving Lloyd Kelly his first start, the small matter of a Champions League play-off tie first leg to decide whether or not the Italian club would make the last 16. Juventus winning 2-1 and the former NUFC player playing the full match. This time the criticism even more severe and over the top from the Italian media.

I can’t help but compare this with how Eddie Howe operates, a class act who looks after the club’s interests and the player’s interests for the long-term, ready to make big brave decisions.

Bruno Guimaraes was already a Brazil international when arriving at Newcastle in January 2022 in the middle of a desperate relegation fight. However, Eddie Howe gave the player every chance to adapt, to settle in, a new club, a new league, a new language. Only a few minutes here and there and over six weeks before Bruno’s first start, away at Southampton when winning the game with that stunning backheel volley, Bruno playing full of confidence. Still though Eddie Howe super patient and brave, Bruno didn’t make his first home start for NUFC until April 2022, after the relegation fight had effectively already been won.

You have to contrast that with Thiago Motta and Juventus, Lloyd Kelly arriving with only four league starts in nine months, arriving at a new club, in a new country, a new language, yet thrown straight into a massive league match only four days after arriving, coming on at half-time at 1-1 in a big away game, then only eight days after arriving playing the full game in their biggest match of the season so far, the Champions League progress resting on it!

There is no way that Eddie Howe would have handled it like this, if roles reversed.

Thrown in at the deep end and this backlash from Italian media and Juventus fans before even having a chance to settle in…you just hope for his sake that Lloyd Kelly can ride this out and be given a proper chance.

Juventus official confirmation of financial details on the Lloyd Kelly deal – 3 February 2025:

‘Agreement with Newcastle for the acquisition of the player Kelly

Turin, 3 February 2025

Juventus Football Club S. p. A. announces that an agreement with Newcastle United Football Club for the temporary acquisition, until 30 June 2025, of the registration rights of the player Kelly Lloyd Casius has been reached for a consideration of €3 million (approx £2.5m) for sporting season 2024/2025, with additional costs of up to €0.8 million (approx £0.66m).

The agreement further entails the obligation for Juventus to definitely acquire the player’s registration rights, subject to the achievement of certain sporting objective during the season 2024/2025. The agreed consideration for the definitive acquisition is €14.5 million (approx £12.0m), payable in three financial years, with additional costs of up to €2.7 million (approx £2.24m). This consideration may be increased up to a consideration of €6.5 million (approx £5.4m) over the duration of the player’s contract, upon the achievement of further performance objectives.

Given the high probability of the conditions for the player’s acquisition being achieved, this transaction for accounting purposes, qualifies as a definitive effective acquisition from today for a total amount of €17.5 million (approx £14.5m), plus additional costs. It should be noted that the final evaluations about the accounting recognition of the transaction will be performed for the preparation of the Annual Financial Report as of 25 June 2025.’