Newcastle have a problem on their hands, and it’s a rather significant one. Losing Sean Longstaff for any amount of time was going to be tough. But to potentially lose him for the season, as has been confirmed on the Newcastle website? That’s going to be very difficult to deal with for Rafael Benitez.
He’s got options, sure, but Longstaff has been one of the Magpies’ best players this season, and in losing the Englishman, we’re undeniably going to be a weaker team, at least in the short-term.
Who could the manager turn to? Well, if the Newcastle fans have their way, it appears as though many of them want Jonjo Shelvey to get a chance.
Is he an ideal option? No, he lacks the defensive quality that Longstaff delivers, whilst his injury issues this term have been well documented.
However, it’s also fair to say that he hasn’t had enough of a chance this season, and we all know that on his day, the Englishman is a brilliant player.
Who Benitez will pick to replace Longstaff remains to be seen, but lots of Newcastle fans want to see Shelvey – as you can see below.
Bad news about Longstaff being out for the season but at least we’ve got an able deputy in Shelvey #NUFC
— Phil Lindsay (@pl) March 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/chrisjwerswell/status/1103637136379703296
Looks like Sean Longstaff is going to be missing the rest of the season and a bit more. Four months out after his knee injury at the weekend. #nufc will hope for a similar recovery to Lejeune. Door open for Shelvey and/or Ki again now.
— Harry De Cosemo (@harrydecosemo) March 7, 2019
Longstaff’s injury is a sickner but come at a time where Shelvey, Diame and Ki all fit again.
Would love to see Almiron on the end of a Shelvey ball.
— Lee Robson (@leerobson23) March 7, 2019
With Longstaff our for the rest of the season, I think it’s time Shelvey showed his worth and put in a couple of performances for the army.
— Barryfoster (@bazowenlola1) March 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/AWM_1981/status/1103671150914297857
https://twitter.com/Jimmyk1978/status/1103592577465495552
Thoughts?