Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has grown frustrated by Jonjo Shelvey rushing back from injury before he’s ready, according to The Chronicle journalist Chris Waugh.
Waugh claims that there are whispers behind the scenes that Benitez hasn’t been impressed by the England international having to sit out for sustained periods due to him rushing his own recovery.
The fact that the former Swansea City man missed the hectic festive period is a real bone of contention for the Spaniard, and he will doubtless have been unimpressed with the midfielder’s continuing injury problems since the turn of the year.
There are also lingering suspicions that the 27-year-old simply isn’t a ‘Benitez player’, and that if the manager had received assurances that the money would be reinvested that Shelvey would have been sold in recent windows.
OPINION
This kind of clears up why Shelvey hasn’t been featuring much in recent weeks. Despite being fully fit at last and with Sean Longstaff out injured, Benitez has continually opted for Mohamed Diame and Ki Sung-yueng in central midfield over the more talented Englishman. Supporters have been questioning why that’s been the case, particularly when, with the Magpies losing, Ki replaced the injured Isaac Hayden against Arsenal on Monday rather than Shelvey. Well, it seems that Shelvey is in Benitez’s bad books. To be fair, it’s hard to blame the former Liverpool boss for the way he feels. It will surely have been extremely frustrating to continually be without one of your best players because he doesn’t learn his lesson. Injuries need to be rehabbed throughly, if you rush them you open yourself up to longer absences. However, Shelvey has rushed back multiple times and ended up missing significant portions of the season as a result. Benitez is surely right to be annoyed.
