OPINION
What is going on with Jonjo Shelvey? Answers on a postcard, please.
The Newcastle United midfielder can’t seem to get in the starting lineup for love nor money at the moment, and it really is becoming something of mystery as to why.
During the early part of the season, the deep-lying playmaker was predominantly absent with a recurring thigh injury, and then during the plateau of midseason it was his continued battle for match fitness that was used as a justification for his omission.
Now, however, there seems to be no excuse really.
Shelvey is match fit, young usurper Sean Longstaff is injured for the rest of the campaign, and Mo Diame and Ki Sung-yeung continue to dip in and out of decent form when they get the nod alongside Isaac Hayden in the engine room.
Things don’t look good for Shelvey, and they might just get a whole lot worse.
According to the Daily Star, Rafa Benitez has drawn up a three man shortlist of creative talent for potential summer swoops.
Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser and David Brooks are mentioned, as if Burnley teenager Dwight McNeil.
None of these players would fulfil that quarterback distributor role that Shelvey embodies so brilliantly, but they do hint at a manager looking for alternative ways to build attacks – ways that maybe don’t include a temperamental pass master.
These are, for the moment, just whispers, but if we’re being honest, there is plenty of evidence that the £70,000-a-week [Spotrac] midfielder should be very worried for his Toon future.
