Ex-Bristol City star seals £18m blockbuster deadline day move

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A former Bristol City star has made a massive deadline day move worth upwards of £18m.

Former Bristol City defender Lloyd Kelly has completed a massive deadline day move to Serie A giants Juventus.

The former Robin only signed for Newcastle United on a free transfer last summer but struggled to get game time under Eddie Howe and has now completed a move to Turin on an initial loan move with an obligation to buy.

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Juventus will pay Newcastle an initial €3m loan fee and will then pay €14m plus an additional €5m in add-ons to sign Kelly, bringing the total value of the package to €22m (£18m).

Bristol-born Kelly came through the youth ranks at City and played at Ashton Gate until a £13m move to AFC Bournemouth in 2019. He made 48 appearances for the Robins in total, scoring two goals.

Kelly moves on after disappointing time with Toon

Kelly left Bournemouth, for whom he made 141 appearances, as a free agent ahead of the 2024/25 season and signed for Newcastle, but despite injuries to the likes of Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles found his minutes limited, and he leaves St. James’ Park after seven months having made just 13 appearances in all competitions.

He will now hope for a fresh start with Juventus, who praised his “experience, physicality, aerial strength and solid defensive reading of the game” in an official announcement welcoming the Bristolian to the Old Lady.

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The announcement further suggested that Kelly’s positional versatility – he is able to play as a centre-half or full-back – would make him “a valuable piece [in] Juventus' puzzle.”

Kelly is joining a club which is currently under-performing in the league. Juve sit in fifth place in Serie A, 14 points behind leaders Napoli, having drawn a remarkable 13 of their 23 league games to date. Manager Thiago Motta, whose position is reportedly under threat, will hope that Kelly can contribute as one of Italy’s most storied clubs look to get back on track in the second half of the season.

Quiet deadline day at Ashton Gate

Meanwhile, Bristol City are not expected to make any waves on transfer deadline day, with a club statement released on Sunday which explained why the Robins would not be making any additions to their current squad.

“We began the season with a larger squad than we would ideally operate with,” the statement read. “After making a real push to sign Scott Twine and Luke McNally late in the summer – decisions we are pleased we made – alongside a couple of expected departures not occurring, we entered January considerably behind on our season budget… We are not adding to the size of the squad.”

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The club do hope to complete the permanent acquisition of loanee forward Yu Hirakawa in the coming days, and have also announced an extension to Stoke City target Mark Sykes’ contract which will keep the winger at Ashton Gate until the end of next season.

In other news, a double deadline day departure has been announced, with two midfielders leaving Liam Manning’s side on permanent deals before the window closed.

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