---
title: "Newcastle: Lloyd Kelly named as a realistic transfer target for Magpies"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/newcastle-lloyd-kelly-one-of-the-most-realistic-targets-eddie-howe-ryan-fraser-callum-wilson/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Follow up"
published: "2022-03-21T13:35:25Z"
modified: "2022-03-21T13:35:25Z"
---

# Newcastle: Lloyd Kelly named as a realistic transfer target for Magpies

**Lloyd Kelly is ‘one of the most likely’ signings for Newcastle United this summer, according to transfer insider Dean Jones, who was speaking to [GiveMeSport](https://www.givemesport.com/87984185-newcastle-9m-eddie-howe-favourite-tipped-for-st-james-park-transfer).**

### The lowdown

The 23-year-old currently plays in the Championship for Eddie Howe’s former club Bournemouth. He moved to The Vitality Stadium in 2019, [making nine appearances](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lloyd-kelly/leistungsdaten/spieler/480116/plus/0?saison=2019) in what would prove to be Howe’s final season at the south coast club.

The centre-back has now established himself as [one of the first names on the teamsheet](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lloyd-kelly/leistungsdaten/spieler/480116/plus/0?saison=2021) in Scott Parker’s [promotion-chasing side](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lloyd-kelly/leistungsdaten/spieler/480116/plus/0?saison=2021) and has regularly donned the captain’s armband this season. The Cherries boss has [used him solely as a centre-half](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lloyd-kelly/leistungsdaten/spieler/480116/plus/0?saison=2021) this season, but he [can also play](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lloyd-kelly/leistungsdaten/spieler/480116/plus/0?saison=ges) as a left-back.

The Daily Mail’s [Craig Hope](https://twitter.com/CraigHope_DM/status/1478785785461673990) reported Howe’s enduring admiration for Kelly early in the January transfer window, but no move materialised midway through the campaign.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”389224″\]

### The latest

Jones has learned that the Magpies’ links to Kelly are genuine and wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a Newcastle shirt next season.

He told [GiveMeSport](https://www.givemesport.com/87984185-newcastle-9m-eddie-howe-favourite-tipped-for-st-james-park-transfer): “Yeah, of all the names mentioned at Newcastle and of all the different profiles, Lloyd Kelly, I’m told, is one of the most likely to actually join the club.”

### The verdict

Newcastle have signed a number of players from Bournemouth in recent years, as Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Matt Ritchie have had all the opportunity to reunite with Howe on Tyneside after the 44-year-old was appointed as Steve Bruce’s successor last November.

All of the Magpies’ senior centre-back options are [28 or older](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/newcastle-united/startseite/verein/762), so they could do with some young blood in that position, while Kelly could also theoretically slot in on the left if Matt Targett’s loan [isn’t made permanent](https://www.givemesport.com/87984157-newcastle-eddie-howe-signing-now-tipped-to-leave-st-james-park).

Valued at £9m by [Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lloyd-kelly/leistungsdaten/spieler/480116/plus/0?saison=2021), the 23-year-old is an excellent distributor of the ball, averaging [5.8 accurate long passes](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/332419/Show/Lloyd-Kelly) per game, and former Bournemouth boss Jonathan Woodgate called him [‘exceptional’](https://theathletic.com/2536142/2021/04/23/physicality-finesse-and-a-knack-for-one-v-one-defending-this-is-lloyd-kelly/?source=twitteruk) when it comes to one-vs-one duels.

It therefore looks as if he woud be a smart, relatively cheap and very realistic coup for the Magpies.

**In other news, [Newcastle are set to make a loss on this defender](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/newcastle-united-news/transfer-news-jamal-lewis-premier-league-3/)**