Reports from Italy claim £20m obligation has already been triggered giving Newcastle United PSR boost ahead of summer
It was only this morning we were writing about how Lloyd Kelly has been branded the worst signing in Juventus history following his loan move to The Old Lady in January, that particular journalist must be crying into his pasta tonight.
Italian journalist Mimmo Cugini christened Lloyd Kelly the 'most disastrous signing in Juventus' history' in a recent piece, and while we never really took to Kelly ourselves, even we feel that's a bit harsh.
Clearly, he won't go down as one of Newcastle's better moves either, arriving on a free in the summer and being booted out just six months later.
However, it did turn out to be a shrewd bit of business by the club, whether it was meant to turn out that way or not.
Lloyd Kelly is already a permanent Juventus player
Lloyd Kelly's loan to Juventus contained an obligation to buy the left-back for £20 million in the summer and while reports circulated suggesting Juventus had to qualify for a UEFA competition to trigger the clause, a new report has suggested that's not the case.
Indeed, journalist Orazio Accomando that the obligation has already been triggered and Lloyd Kelly is a permanent Juventus player.
While nothing has been confirmed by either side, the belief is that all Juventus really had to do to trigger the clause was to avoid relegation, which they have done.
Accomando's numbers don't look right, but we doubt it makes much difference
Accomando's figures seem different to those being reported elsewhere, however, which does put a question mark over his claims from our point of view.
We know that a chunk of the £20 million has already been paid to Newcastle as part of the initial loan agreement with the obligation triggering payment of the balance, but €13.5 million seems way off the mark of what would be left to pay.
Whatever the real story is, it is looking likely that Juventus will grab a European spot anyway, which would trigger the obligation, so the deal looks likely to be done regardless of whether or not it already has.
