Jonjo Shelvey - A Debut To Remember

A brief background

At 23 years of age, Jonjo Shelvey is a very young player with a wealth and knowledge of the high standards and intensity of the Premier league. In fact, Newcastle are the fourth club that Jonjo has been at permanently. He started his career at Charlton Athletic where he became the youngest-ever player at 16 years and 59 days. He most notably made a name for himself at Liverpool where he went on to score seven goals in 69 appearances.

Whilst on loan at blackpool he continued this form and scored 6 goals in 10 games. This was very early in his career and his inconsistency at Liverpool lead him to being sold and picked up by Swansea for a fee of £5million. Shelvey was key to Swansea’s success for 2 seasons as he established himself at the heart of their team. If there was anything good that Swansea did, you could be sure that Jonjo was involved.

THAT Debut

For a 23-year-old to have moved so regularly in such a short space of time highlights two things: that he has more than enough talent for clubs to want to sign him, but he has struggled to settle. The latter can now be disproved after he produced an unbelievable performance at St James’ Park including a 67 yard pass right onto Janmaat’s right toenail! He looked right at home. And even commented after the match at how easy it was to slot straight into the team.

He was key to that dominating first half, finding passes for Daryl Janmaat and Gini Wijnaldum to go on and assist the two goals. He brought a directness that was clearly absent before as highlighted in the Watford FA Cup game. He made things happen. He went on to achieve 92% pass accuracy from the game. He showed his aggression also in the middle of the park, consistently winning the ball back and also getting involved in an altercation with Enner Valencia in the second half.

What does he bring to Newcastle?

As I said earlier, Newcastle have not been direct enough this season. Jonjo Shelvey’s passing can cut through teams. If it is true that Jonjo does struggle to settle into new teams then I for one cannot wait to see what his performance’s are like when he is settled in. He was immense, not only in creating chances but controlling the game, you didn’t need to question his quality and what he would do with the ball and if he would give it away.

Knowing that he has premier league experience was so settling. This is hopefully what Newcastle’s hierarchy have clocked onto and hopefully we can bring in more Premier League proven players. Because Jonjo has definatly increased the quality of our midfield. A midfield that has been lacking balls, a killer instinct, and potentially most importantly a charactered leader. Someone who will grab games by the scruff of the neck and get the job done.

Why did Swansea sell?

Swansea manager Alan Curtis was in charge when Jonjo was sold. Swansea are relegation candidates, much like us. However, I’d like to think that in our position in the bottom three we wouldn’t sell our best players. Not only has Jonjo left but just this morning Andre Ayew has been linked again to a move to Sunderland. Ayew has been one of Swansea’s better players. The consistent links for a move away from the club for Bafetimbi Gomis also have to be a worry for Swansea. They can’t afford to lose these calibre of players in there position.

I can’t get my head around the fact that they sold Jonjo Shelvey to Newcastle. It has been previously rumoured that he has fallen out with then-in-charge Alan Curtis but even so I believe his quality far surpasses Ki, Cork and Leon Britton. It will be interested to see if we ever really get to find out the reason for why he was allowed to depart. I’m not complaining however, I definitely see Swansea’s loss as our gain at this moment.

Is £12million too much?

Jonjo Shelvey is only 23 years of age. He is English. The market for English players is ridiculously inflated at the minute. This is mainly because of the lack of quality English footballers. You only have to look at 21 year old Raheem Sterling who was sold to Manchester City for £50 million to see how expensive buying British really is.

Another contributing factor towards the extraordinary transfer fee’s is the Financial Fair Play regulations. You have to reach your home-grown quota. This is why the bigger clubs in the Premier League (Manchester City) had to buy Fabian Delph after James Milner left. Fabian Delph left to Manchester City for a fee of £8million. He is in reality a bench player for them and I believe for a player who is 3 years older than Shelvey arguably hitting his prime, he is not as good of a buy in comparison to Jonjo Shelvey.

The future

It is starting to feel a bit more optimistic, especially after that incredible first half performance against West Ham. Jonjo has been a fantastic buy for Newcastle and to tie down a player of his experience and his age for £12 million is a fantastic coup. He has his best years ahead of him and that really excites me. I cannot wait to see what is to come, and if the Newcastle board have finally realised that it does benefit the club to buy Premier League proven players instead of unknown French players. We might be starting to get somewhere.