Lee Ryder has claimed Jonjo Shelvey is unlikely to start for Newcastle United this weekend.
Shelvey has made great progress on his return from injury over recent months and weeks as it wasn’t likely he’d even be seen before the World Cup and now the midfielder is seemingly in contention to start this weekend given the absence of Newcastle ace Joelinton.
The Newcastle midfielder is reportedly just one appearance away from triggering an automatic contract extension, so even if he isn’t risked from the start on Saturday, it’s likely he’ll be handed a cameo appearance and get that new deal.
After sitting in on Howe’s pre-match press conference, Ryder has claimed on his YouTube channel that won’t likely be starting against Southampton on Sunday.
“Joelinton played further up the pitch against Aston Villa and he’s certainly got attacking options as well, which means he doesn’t have to rush Jonjo Shelvey back.
“The suggestion was that [they’d be] just guiding Shelvey through the next couple of games before the World Cup and then reassess the situation, but you never know what could happen. He said that Jonjo Shelvey was keen to start the game.”
Does Shelvey deserve a new contract?
Yes!
No!
TIF Thoughts on Shelvey…
Shelvey is now one of the more senior members of the squad at Newcastle both in terms of age but also the longevity of his career on Tyneside having joined the club back in 2016 under Steve McClaren and has also experienced both the Premier League and Championship.
So on that basis, it would be hard to argue against him deserving at least a one-year contract extension, even if he isn’t going to be starting every game he will be a great player to have around the dressing room, especially with experience.
Given that Joelinton has secretly been playing as a left winger, it would make sense to keep the midfield trio of Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes as they are and instead, bring in one of Jacob Murphy or Allan Saint-Maximin on the left instead of introducing Shelvey and risk aggravating his injury.