Imagine him & Burn: NUFC could sign £13m "Rolls-Royce" who "Howe knows" this summer - opinion

A claim has been made over Newcastle United’s pursuit of England under-21 international Lloyd Kelly.

Transfer insider Dean Jones has suggested that the Magpies could be in for the centre-back in the summer because of his history with Eddie Howe.

The Toon head coach signed the defender for Bournemouth from Bristol City for £13m during his time at the Vitality Stadium and has been linked with a swoop for him this year.

Jones told GIVEMESPORT: “Obviously, Eddie Howe knows him very well, and it’s not just that. It’s the potential that he’s got, the level he’s already playing at.”

PIF must land a Newcastle deal for Kelly in the summer as he would form an exciting partnership with Dan Burn at St. James’ Park.

They would complement each other well as their contrasting styles would help them work in tandem in matches as a pairing.

Whilst Burn excels in his individual duels and likes to bully attackers, he lacks the pace to cover in behind and can be exposed when he gets turned and has to chase after a ball that goes past him – as shown in recent goals for Everton and Chelsea as Alex Iwobi and Kai Havertz broke into the space behind him to score.

He has made 3.1 tackles and interceptions whilst winning 3.0 aerial duels and 4.7 battles in total per game in the Premier League this season – as per SofaScore. This shows that he is a strong one-on-one defender as he is regularly winning 50/50’s to regain possession for his side to make up for his lack of mobility.

Kelly, meanwhile, has only won 1.1 aerial battles per game in the Championship at an underwhelming success rate of 47%. The 23-year-old is not outstanding in the air, like the former Brighton man, and can leave the bulk of those particular duels to Burn.

He does, however,