LLOYD Kelly reiterated his focus fully remains on “performing well week in, week out for Bournemouth” after reports linked the defender to a move abroad.

Centre-back Kelly has entered the final 12 months of his deal at Vitality Stadium, with reports from Italy suggesting that European giants AC Milan and Juventus are interested in the Bristolian.

The interest from the continent follows Tottenham Hotspur’s deadline day attempt to sign Kelly, which saw Cherries reject a bid reportedly in the region of £20million.

With Kelly into the last year of his deal, he will be free to sign pre-contracts with clubs outside of England come January, just as his former teammate Jordan Zemura did last term with Serie A outfit Udinese.

Cherries are not currently interested in selling the former England under-21 international, believing his departure mid-way through the season would significantly weaken Andoni Iraola’s side.

Asked about the latest reports, Kelly told the Daily Echo: “I have nothing to say on that, that aspect of things.

“I'm going to just leave it at that.”

Pressed for his thoughts on being linked to such prestigious clubs, Kelly continued: “To be honest, I don't really listen to a lot of the stuff.

“I think my focus at the moment is performing and performing well week in, week out for Bournemouth.

“That's where my focus is until the end of the season.”

Despite being stripped of the captaincy by former head coach Gary O’Neil, Kelly donned the armband during Cherries’ 6-1 defeat away at Manchester City, with captain Neto and vice-captain Adam Smith not featuring.

Discussing the game, Kelly restarted: “I mean, we done well the first 30 minutes and then conceding three goals in a short space of time, of course, is going to be difficult to come back from, especially against a team like Man City.

“We’ve shown glimpses in the second half. But it was always a difficult game, going into the second half.

“Thay have quality in a lot of areas, not only the big name players, Erling Haaland and things like that. They can create chances from everywhere. So it was difficult.

“I think we've just got to put this one to bed of course.”

This weekend Kelly will be reunited by the manager who brought him to Dorset, with Eddie Howe visiting Dean Court with his current employers Newcastle.

“We've got to look at things on where we can improve like always, but at the same time we've just got to move on from this one and put our focus to the next game,” Kelly added.

“Because we’re coming up against another top opposition.”