Regular Sky Sports pundit Darren Bent has claimed that Jonjo Shelvey is the best player at Newcastle but is just short of confidence at the moment.
Bent also said that he thinks 27-year-old Shelvey won’t be happy about the quality of the players around him.
Talking to Football Insider, Bent said, “For me he looks low on confidence, I still think he’s their best player, the one with all the quality.
“I’ve played with players like him, who are on a different level to everyone else technically, they’re walking around playing and he’s just thinking: ‘What am I doing playing with these players, they’re not doing me any favours.’
“I know he can’t think that because he’s their best player and they need him.”
Shelvey the best player at Newcastle?
There have been many pundits who really rate Shelvey highly.
Tony Cottee and Paul Merson have both heaped praise on him in the past, and said he’s the best passer of the ball in England.
However, he didn’t convince previous manager Rafa Benitez, who only played him 16 times in the Premier League last season and dropped him from the Newcastle squad entirely on multiple occasions.
He also hasn’t convinced the England set-up and he hasn’t played for his country since 2015.
We doubt whether Shelvey would thank Bent for these comments. Newcastle have some quality players, with Joelinton and Miguel Almiron costing upwards of £60m between them.
Fabian Schar is currently playing brilliantly for club and country, with plenty of fans hailing him after his recent performance for Switzerland against the ROI.
Schar got an average WhoScored rating of 7.3 with six man-of-the-match awards last season, and is currently averaging 7.16 this season.
Shelvey averaged 6.8 last season and is averaging 6.78 in the 19/20 Premier League.
Shelvey is currently ninth in the Newcastle squad this season for pass completion and third for key passes.
If he is the best player at Newcastle then he needs to rediscover his form quickly. The evidence suggests he isn’t.