Why Serie A-leading Lloyd Kelly would bolster Leeds United in surprise area
Leeds United would be getting more than just a defender in Lloyd Kelly.
With Pascal Struijk joining Brighton, Daniel Farke has some restoration work to do in the heart of his defence this summer.
Leeds are on the verge of completing a big-money deal for Sassuolo centre-back Tarik Muharemovic, and that will help in this regard no end.
However, Kelly has also emerged as a potential target for Leeds over recent weeks, with the 27-year-old fresh off playing 46 times for Juventus in all competitions last season.
A former England youth international, he initially joined Juventus on loan from Newcastle in winter 2025, before making the move to Turin permanent last summer.
But, with a move back to English football now seemingly on the cards for Kelly, he's a player that could help take Leeds to another level in 2026-27.
Why Lloyd Kelly would be as much of an attacking signing for Leeds as defensive
MOT Leeds News has covered reports linking Kelly with a potential £25.7million move to Elland Road this summer.
TuttoJuve have reported that the defender is interested in coming back to the Premier League, and that things could progress quickly should Leeds firm up their interest.
Given he's a central defender, some Whites fans may look at their imminent new arrival in Muharemovic and feel hesitant to see another player in that position brought in for big money.
Kelly isn't your typical centre-back though, and he'd be coming to West Yorkshire to help out Leeds' attack as much as he would their defence.
As per FotMob, no Serie A centre-back won as many possessions in the final third as Kelly's 12 in 2025-26.
On top of that, he also ranked in the top 2.8 per cent of his positional rivals for his 127 accurate long balls, as well as placing in the leading 1.8 percentile with his 18 successful dribbles.
Kelly also created 11 chances, took 44 touches in the opposition box, took 17 shots, played 1,808 successful passes and made 168 recoveries in the Italian top flight last term, all of which ranked him among the very best in his position.
What makes Kelly and Leeds an even better match, however, is that one of his bigger weaknesses wouldn't be as much of a problem in Farke's new-look Whites approach.
What Kelly isn't and why that's not a bad thing for Leeds
As modern football increasingly heads in new tactical directions, it can sometimes feel as though if you're a centre-back who doesn't excel as a ball-playing defender, fans and coaches won't want you on their team.
Many want their central defenders to be the first line of central midfielders nowadays, and never has the no-nonsense defender's stock been so low.
Kelly doesn't particularly shine when it comes to his passing ability, as his 88.9 per cent success rate was only just above average in Serie A last season.
Jump back to 2024-25 with Newcastle United, and the 81.2 per cent success rate he registered in 10 Premier League appearances ranked in the bottom 28.4 percentile of his positional rivals in England's top flight that year.
Had he been linked with signing for Leeds whilst they were a Championship side under Farke, playing a slow, possession-monopolising brand of football, that would be a bit of an issue.
But now that the German has evolved his tactics to be more counter-attacking and line-breaking, Kelly's long-range passing and playmaking abilities could see him thrive in this system.
Leeds shouldn't stop at Muharemovic when upgrading their centre-back ranks this summer, and adding Kelly to the backline would complement the Bosnian brilliantly.