Lloyd Kelly permanent Juventus transfer on a knife-edge – Worst timing possible for injury blow | OneFootball

Twelve weeks ago, Newcastle United defender Lloyd Kelly signed for Juventus.

After only four Serie A starts for the loan signing, the manager who signed him, Thiago Motta, was sacked.

The Lloyd Kelly Juventus deal was a loan with an obligation to buy if certain conditions were met.

Those conditions widely reported as all but a’ formality’.

The official release from Juventus (see below) stated that; ‘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…’

Juventus also giving the exact amounts of money that Newcastle United would receive:

A loan fee of €3 million (approx £2.5m) for season 2024/2025.

Then if the obligation to buy was triggered, a guaranteed further €14.5 million (approx £12.0m)

Then up to another €6.5 million (approx £5.4m) in future add-ons if certain targets were met.

In late February, the conditions needed to trigger the permanent Lloyd Kelly move were made public.

Tuttomercatoweb revealing that their information was that Juventus must buy Lloyd Kelly, if this current 2024/25 season, they qualify for any UEFA competition to play in, in the 2025/26 season.

That includes the Europa Conference League, so if Juventus finish in the top six of Serie A, that would activate that obligation.

The bad news is that this Lloyd Kelly permanent deal is now looking on a knife-edge.

The worry is that if the permanent deal isn’t automatically triggered by Juventus qualifying for a European competition, then they may well decide not to choose to follow through with the permanent deal, especially now that the manager who signed him is no longer at the club.

Sunday was a must win match for Juventus, as they were playing at home to rock bottom Monza, Despite a red card for Yildiz, Juventus still managed a 2-0 victory.

However, other results went against them on Sunday when it comes to competing for the European places, Fiorentina winning 2-1 at home to Empoli, then even worse, a shock 1-0 away win for Roma at Inter Milan who were top.

This is how the Serie A table now looks on Monday (28 April) morning:

As you can see, Juve’s chances of finishing top six now in the balance, unlike last season, Serie A not having top five getting Champions League football. Instead, the Premier League and La Liga having already claimed a fifth extra qualifying place this time.

Lazio are at home to sixth bottom Parma and if the team from Rome win as expected, that will further tighten things up. Fourth to seventh will only be separated by two points (fourth place Juventus on 62 points with Lazio (if they win tonight), down to  Roma in seventh on 60 points, with Fiorentina just a further point back in eighth on 59 points.

The next two Juventus matches look massive and could make or break them when it comes to their European chances and automatically triggering the Lloyd Kelly permanent deal where Newcastle United are concerned.

Juventus are away to Bologna on Sunday (4 May) and then away to Lazio the following Sunday (11 May). A couple of defeats in those matches and almost certainly Juventus would be outside the top six and outside the European places, with only two matches left to play.

A lot of the reporting around Lloyd Kelly has been a bit unfair, both Italian and English media desperate to want to portray it as some kind of disaster.

The reality is that Lloyd Kelly has been a constant in the Juventus team and played all of these last nine Serie A matches.

Two heavy defeats to Atalanta and Fiorentina but in the other seven Serie A games that Lloyd Kelly has started, Juventus have only conceded four goals in those seven league matches.

However, ahead of these next tow key games, they have Yildiz suspended now and a defensive crisis.

It was already bad but now Juventus have revealed that Lloyd Kelly is now injured despite completing Sunday’s match and clean sheet (even though playing half the match a man down).

“Having reported a muscle problem in his right thigh at the end of last night’s game against Monza, Lloyd Kelly has underwent diagnostic tests this [Monday] morning.

“Which revealed a low grade hamstring injury.

“New examinations will be repeated in about 10 days’ time, in order to define the exact recovery time.”

The same as the Premier League, the final Serie A matches of the season will be played on Sunday 25 May. With less than four weeks of the season left, it remains to be seen whether Lloyd Kelly plays again this season. Juventus potentially having to get top six and a European qualifying place without him, in order to trigger that automatic permanent transfer from Newcastle United.

Juventus official confirmation of 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.’