Jonjo Shelvey completed his £12million move to Newcastle United on Tuesday, and he has already been given a word of advice from a club legend.
On the day the Magpies landed Henri Saivet from Bordeaux in a £5million deal, they further added to their midfield options by taking Shelvey from Swansea City. The England international – who has six caps for his country – often impressed whilst at the Liberty Stadium, but fell out of favour in recent weeks with suggestions his attitude left a lot to be desired.
Shelvey began his career in the colours of Charlton Athletic, where he became their youngster ever first team player at the age of 16 years and 59 days, he moved to Liverpool for £1.7million in 2010. But he soon became frustrated with a lack of first team opportunities at the Merseyside club, who reluctantly agreed to his departure to Wales for a £6million fee.
Swansea have now doubled their money on the 23-year-old, who scored nine goals in 77 appearances in all competitions and was given a new contract just last summer. And Newcastle have got an international player who is not yet in his prime years for a reasonable price of £12million, but club legend Alan Shearer has a word of warning for the new man.
“At his age, surely the penny has to drop,” he said on BBC 5 Live. “You get a chance in football and you have to take it. He’s had two or three – he has to understand that he will not get a bigger opportunity than he has now at Newcastle. He’s now at a huge football club where the fans will adore him. He hasn’t got another opportunity after this. He has to do it here.”
Shelvey was obviously ineligible for the visit of Manchester United on Tuesday night, which ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw described by some as the game of the season so far. He will hope to make his debut at the weekend, though, when West Ham United visit St James Park. The Magpies will see this as a must-win game, given their current placing in the relegation zone.
