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Topics: Jose Mourinho, Fenerbahce, Transfers, Premier League
Ryan Smart
Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho has identified a Premier League defender as his top transfer target this month - and the club are already in talks.
Mourinho took over at the Turkish giants in the summer and has won 13 of his 17 Turkish Super Lig games in charge, drawing three and losing two.
Unfortunately for Fenerbahce fans, their main rivals Galatasaray - who became the first team ever to score 100 points in a Super Lig season last term - are eight points ahead of them, having won 16 and drawn two of their 18 matches.
Mourinho's side broke a Turkish transfer record with the €19.5 million signing of forward Youssef En Nesyri, but most of the club's business was partly funded by the €30 million sale of full-back Ferdi Kadioglu to Brighton.
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That appears to mean that funds will be available in January - and Fenerbahce vice-president Acun Ilicali has confirmed that the club are in talks with a current Premier League player.
Ilicali, who is also the owner of Championship club Hull City, revealed to Turkish journalist Sercan Hamzaoglu that Fenerbahce are in negotiations over the signing of Newcastle defender Lloyd Kelly.
He said: "We are negotiating for the transfer of Lloyd Kelly. He is a player we are interested in.
"If we can reach an agreement, we will make the transfer of this player happen."
Kelly signed for Newcastle on a free transfer in the summer after his Bournemouth contract expired.
He signed a five-year contract but has made just five starts in the Premier League.
He amassed three years of Premier League experience with the Cherries after signing for them from Bristol City, having come through the Robins' youth system.
Kelly was on the bench when City famously knocked Mourinho-managed Manchester United out of the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage in 2017.
The 26-year-old was also appointed as Bournemouth club captain after the departure of long-serving centre-back Steve Cook in 2022, spending two years in the role before his own exit.