It appears as though Newcastle United will make an attempt to bolster their squad this month with an offer of £10million for Jonjo Shelvey.
The Magpies look set to face another scrape with relegation this season, and are currently third-bottom of the Premier League table and two points from safety. Manager Steve McClaren was able to spend the best part of £50million during the summer on the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Florian Thauvin, and it appears as though he will have more cash at his disposal.
According to Sky Sports, Newcastle are showing a lot of interest in Shelvey, who lost his place in the Swansea City side under Garry Monk and has been unable to regain it since Alan Curtis was brought in as a replacement. Crystal Palace have also shown interest in the midfielder, who has six caps for England, and it is likely to take a fee of at least £10million to prise him from the Liberty Stadium.
The 23-year-old has started just three league games since October, and has been excluded from the matchday squad on four occasions despite being fully fit. There have been suggestions that his attitude leaves lot to be desired, and last week Curtis conceded: “If he is in the team he is not a problem at all, but if he is not in the team he can be a bit more difficult to manage.”
Meanwhile, the Magpies have been condemned to yet another season with no silverware following their FA Cup third round elimination at Watford. The St James’ Park club have not won a major honour since winning the Inter-City Fairs Cup, which was later succeeded by the Uefa Cup, in 1969. But McClaren believes his side were unlucky to suffer a 1-0 defeat at Vicarage Road.
“We’ve performed today on a difficult pitch, in difficult circumstances, and I think we’ve dominated and controlled the game. We can’t ask anymore,” he said. “Fifty thousand people have to get behind this team and support this team. We have to stick together. I know it’s difficult, it’s difficult for all of us to show a little bit of patience.”
