Report: Newcastle 'favourites' to sign highly rated defender - we should be very wary

TalkSPORT now claim that Newcastle United are the frontrunners to scoop up Bournemouth's Lloyd Kelly when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Newcastle will be looking to fill the gap left by Sven Botman after the Dutchman announced he's to undergo surgery on his ACL in a move that could keep him out of action for the rest of the year.

Lloyd Kelly's Bournemouth contract comes to an end this season and several big clubs are circling, but TalkSPORT claims Newcastle currently holds the advantage.

Tottenham will also try to sign the 25-year-old after having had a £20million bid rejected by Bournemouth last summer.

Lloyd Kelly has definitely been made The Bournemouth Way like Callum Wilson

Kelly has made 14 Premier League appearances for The Cherries this season swapping between centre-back and left-back as needed.

He is very highly rated, hence catching the eye of the likes of Newcastle and Tottenham, but if he's so good why has he only played 16 times this season in all competitions?

The answer is simple - he's made from the exact same stuff as former Bournemouth man, Callum Wilson and a strong breeze can put him out of action for a month.

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Eddie Howe signed Kelly for Bournemouth in 2019

After a season which will be remembered for the number of injuries Newcastle had to contend with, bringing in another player who divides his time equally between the training ground and the treatment table is a big risk, regardless of his reputation.

We're not opposed to signing Kelly. We're sure that the positives outweigh the negatives, but we should definitely be fully aware of what we're potentially getting ourselves into.

It could all be a moot point, however, as we're sure that the reason TalkSPORT has us as frontrunners is simply the Bournemouth connection and the fact that Eddie Howe signed him for the Cherries in 2019.