John Wenham predicts Tottenham could submit ‘£15m’ Lloyd Kelly January bid
Tottenham News is delighted to welcome John Wenham of Lilywhite Rose as our exclusive columnist. Each week, he’ll be giving his expert insight on the biggest talking points at Spurs…
Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly would be a “sensible signing” for Tottenham and the club should revisit a deal for him in January, according to John Wenham.
Spurs weighed up a late move for Kelly during the summer transfer window, as per Fabrizio Romano via X (31 August), although a deal never materialised.
It means that Eric Dier and makeshift centre-back Ben Davies remain the club’s only senior back-ups in the heart of their defence to first-choice partnership Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven.
With Spurs light on options at centre-back, Wenham thinks going back in for 24-year-old Kelly makes sense, especially given he can play full-back too.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, Wenham said: “I definitely think we need a backup left-sided centre back in January.
“If Romero was to get injured, Dier is more suited to the right-side, but if it was Van de Ven who was to get injured, then you’d probably be looking at Davies coming in at left centre back, which is a huge drop-off in quality.
“Therefore, I think if we could get a left-sided centre back, who could also cover left back in case Destiny Udogie got injured, that would be ideal.
“It’s got to be realistic, it’s got to be somebody that’s going to appreciate that quite a lot of the time they’re not going to be starting because we’ve got Van de Ven and Romero, who are both top class and getting better and better each game they play.
“That’s where Lloyd Kelly comes back again. When the initial links came out in the summer, I didn’t really think too much about him. However, I watched him against Chelsea, and I was really impressed with him.
“He will have six months left on his contract in January, he counts as homegrown so I could see Tottenham returning with a £12-15million bid in January. I think that would be a really sensible signing for the club.”
In other Tottenham news, two players at the club are walking a disciplinary tightrope.