Newcastle United fan and presenter Steve Wraith has given his views on claims that Fabian Schar and Jonjo Shelvey are in line for new deals at the club.
Change was certainly the order of the day at St. James’ Park over the last few months with the new ownership, an incoming manager and numerous other changes in terms of players coming and going to and from the club during the January transfer window.
Now that these changes have happened, it appears as though the club’s attention is set to turn on keeping some things the same. A report from The Telegraph has claimed: “Fabian Schar is set to be offered a new contract by Newcastle United in recognition of his return to prominence under Eddie Howe and could be swiftly joined by midfielder Jonjo Shelvey in signing a new deal.”
Speaking on the latest edition of NUFC Matters, Wraith gave his view on the reports and claimed that the moves were probably the right thing for the club to do, because whilst Newcastle are looking to move forward, players like Shelvey and Schar might play an important role in the next stage of things before they start bringing in the types of names that some media outlets believe they’ll pursue with their recently acquired wealth.
He said: “I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I’ve got to be honest, because we aren’t going to be going out signing, Kevin De Bruyne and [Kylian] Mbappe in the next transfer window, this is a slow process. And this is about having players who Eddie Howe is happy with, and who he can see this team and this club progressing with, and you need experienced heads.
“And Schar and Shelvey being coached correctly and training seven days a week, or whatever they train now as opposed to a three-day week, makes a big difference. And Eddie Howe clearly sees something in these players that other managers didn’t. And if he wants them around the club, it’s a good thing.”
TIF Thoughts on Steve Wraith’s comments about Fabian Schar, Jonjo Shelvey and Newcastle United…
Should Newcastle get rid of Jonjo Shelvey?
Yes
No
Wraith’s pragmatic view on the situation does have some sense to it when he talks about the progress at the club.
As he points out, whilst the club have ambitions, they may not be likely to bring in too many global superstars in the next summer window as they won’t be able to offer European football, so they’ll be looking for players to help make that next step.
And given how Newcastle have performed in recent weeks, unbeaten in their last six, it seems as if Howe may have finally managed to get things in order at St. James’ Park and found what he thinks is a team that can compete a lot higher up the table.
So if the next stage of proceedings is keeping hold of players like Schar and Shelvey that have helped get them this far, it’s something the club are quite right to explore.
In other news: He’s like Van Dijk: Journalist claims Newcastle ‘will’ move for £46m star