It looks like Jonjo Shelvey could be on his way out of Newcastle with Nottingham Forest keen to sign the midfielder before Tuesday’s deadline.
Shelvey has been at St James’ Park since 2016 after signing from Swansea City for £12m. He has made over 180 appearances in the black and white, scoring 16 goals along the way. He stuck with the club through thick and thin, staying on when we got relegated to the Championship, helping the club bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
However, it hasn’t all been plane sailing for the midfielder, often being accused of being lazy, slow and disinterested. However, it looked like he was about to put all of those thoughts to bed this season when he returned to pre-season training in the best shape of his life, unfortunately picking up a long-term injury in a friendly against Benfica before he got the chance to show off the new Jonjo.
Shelvey made a quicker recovery than expected and featured as a substitute in a couple of games before the World Cup break, only to pick up another injury which kept him out of contention for 6-8 weeks. It’s now believed that he is around 10 days away from a return to action, but it looks like that will not be for Newcastle.
BBC Sport reports that Jonjo is in talks with Nottingham Forest over a switch to the City Ground, following former teammate, Chris Wood. Eddie Howe is keen to keep hold of Shelvey, but is also aware that a move is probably best for the player’s future saying: “I definitely want to keep Jonjo. I rate him very highly.”
Adding that it “would be very difficult to keep Jonjo, with where he wants his career to go”.
One thing that could keep Shelvey on Tyneside is if Newcastle can’t bring in a suitable replacement before tomorrow’s deadline.