Report: Newcastle are 'favourites' to sign 25-year-old defender Eddie Howe signed in 2019

Eddie Howe certainly likes to stick to what he knows and it looks like he will be doing so again in the summer if recent reports are to be believed.

While many ITKs are posting on social media that Newcastle United have won the race to sign defender Lloyd Kelly from Bournemouth, HITC have gone with a slightly more cautious approach in saying that Newcastle are favourites to land the 25-year-old.

Kelly is not going to sign a new contract at Bournemouth and as such will leave the club at the end of the season, and despite interest from several clubs, it's believed that the left-back will opt to reconnect with the man who took him to Bournemouth in 2019 for £13million, Eddie Howe.

Given Newcastle's struggles with staying under the FFP limits, a free transfer for someone like Kelly who can cover a few different positions makes a lot of sense.

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We can't ignore Lloyd Kelly's injury record this season

However, there are caveats, the main one being the fact that Kelly has missed 18 games for Bournemouth this season, 16 of which were directly attributed to injury.

Given that Newcastle's aim is to repair a squad that has become ravaged by injury, that doesn't seem like a prudent step.

On the flip side, when you consider that Liverpool, Tottenham, AC Milan and Juventus are all keen on signing him, then he must be doing something right.

Kelly will be perfect cover at left-back and will bring a new option in that position

Newcastle's issues at left-back, i.e. Dan Burn's lack of pace, Eddie Howe's lack of faith in Lewis Hall's defensive capabilities and Matt Targett's legs being made out of your grandma's fine china bringing in support for that area is definitely a good move.

Howe is already acutely aware of what Kelly can do having already signed him once and worked with him at Bournemouth, so integrating him into the side should be a breeze.

This looks like one of those signings that will not arouse more than a golf clap from the Toon Army at the time but could develop into something bigger, like Dan Burn.