Ex-Bristol City star's club reject £11m offer as former Chelsea and Spurs boss chases transfer

Newcastle United's Lloyd Kelly is said to have been the subject of an £11m offer from Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce. The 26-year-old, who began his career with Bristol City, has emerged as a key transfer target for the ex-Man United boss, with the Turkish side stepping up their pursuit of Kelly in recent days.

According to a report from The Telegraph, Newcastle are unimpressed with the offer they have received for the player, who still has four and a half years left to run on his contract.

Meanwhile, Fenerbahce vice-president Acun Ilicah is said to have angered the Magpies after publicly revealing his interest in Kelly, claiming: "We are in talks for Lloyd Kelly transfer. He’s a player we’re interested in. If we can reach an agreement we will transfer this player.”

Newcastle are believed to be insistent that a deal currently isn't close, and they are reluctant to sell Kelly in the January transfer window due to a series of injuries to their back line this season, including the likes of Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman.

The report also states that while the Magpies joined the rest of the Premier League sides in passing the competition's profitability and sustainability rules for the previous period of accounting, they may wish to move on Kelly, who they signed on a free transfer from Bournemouth just last June, in order to fund another purchase this month.

Lloyd Kelly's time at Bristol City

Kelly was an impressive product of the Robins' youth academy, spending six years learning his craft before landing his first professional contract with the club in 2017.

He then enjoyed an encouraging debut season in which he made 16 appearances for the club, and won the club's Young Player of Year award. The Bristol-born local lad then became a regular staple in Lee Johnson's side during the 2018/19 campaign, making 34 appearances across all competitions.

Inevitably, his exceptional performances didn't go unnoticed by those higher up the football pyramid, and he was snapped up by Bournemouth for a £13m fee in May 2019. This hefty fee makes the top three of the Robins' most lucrative sales of all-time, coming in behind only Adam Webster who joined Brighton for a fee of around £20m in August 2019, and Alex Scott who also left City for Bournemouth, signing with the Cherries for a £25m back in 2013.

What's next for Bristol City?

The Robins currently lie ninth in the Championship, and will be eager to continue an encouraging recent run of form and push on towards the play-off places as the season hurtles onwards towards its May finale.

Manager Liam Manning, who has made clear that squad depth will be crucial to his side mounting a successful challenge for a top seven finish, is now preparing his side for a tricky trip to face Frank Lampard's Coventry City this weekend, before attentions turn to another daunting encounter away to Sheffield Wednesday.

City haven't made it to the play-offs since 2008, when Gary Johnson's side came roaring back up from League One to secure a fourth place finish in the Championship.

However, it was ultimately heartbreak for his side, who battled valiantly past Crystal Palace in the play-off semi-finals, only to be defeated 1-0 in the final at Wembley, with Dean Windass' volley from the edge of the area breaking the hearts of Robins fans and the players alike.

Meanwhile, there has been little in the way of transfer talk surrounding the Robins of late, but Swansea City’s Harry Darling has emerged as one potential target. In lieu of any new signings at present, an Artificial Intelligence bot has had a crack at prediction who will join the club in January, with rather mixed results.