Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has urged the club to hand him a new deal, admitting that he is playing for his Magpies future.
The 27-year-old has taken up the captain’s armband at St James’ Park with Jamaal Lascelles out injured, and found the back of the net in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with champions Manchester City.
He hopes to stick around on Tyneside: “At the end of the day, I’m playing for a new contract now,” he told the club’s programme, as per The Chronicle. “I want to stay here, and hopefully a contract will be sorted.
“The kids love it up here – they’ve got their friends here.”
OPINION
Shelvey is a Newcastle veteran these days, having played 121 times for the club [Source: Transfermarkt]. The problem is that he’s not the most consistent of players and he can be a bit of a hot-head. However, you accept that for how good he can be on his day. There’s only really Allan Saint-Maximin who matches the England international in the Newcastle squad for pure natural talent. Saturday’s draw with City showed how good Shelvey can be when he is on it. As per WhoScored.com, the former Swansea City man had three shots – one of them being his fantastic goal – as well as making one key pass and being fouled once. However, what really stood out was his defensive work. Shelvey made two tackles, four interceptions and three clearances against Pep Guardiola’s side, quite astonishing statistics that make you sit up and take notice. If he can produce a few more of those sorts of displays, there’s no doubt that they’ll be keeping him around.
