We haven’t seen much of Jonjo Shelvey in 2019. He’s been dealing with a few injury problems, and so far, he hasn’t been relied on that much in the Magpies’ first team.
However, he appears to be willing to put in the extra effort to get to the stage in which he’s able to turn out for the first team, at least judging by a recent comment from Rafa Benitez.
It was only earlier this week that Benitez suggested that Shelvey was lacking match fitness, which serves as important context.
Clearly not content with sitting back and waiting for something to happen, Shelvey wants to put himself out there, and that’s fantastic to see. He obviously wants to get back into the first team as soon as possible, and he’s willing to do anything to get there.
Of course, he could just sit on the bench and get 20 minutes here and there with a view to playing the full 90, but by playing with the youth team, he’ll likely be able to speed up that process considerably.
You can’t fault his commitment to the team, that’s for sure. It’s great to see.
Thoughts?