Journalist Liam Kennedy has shared his frustration at Newcastle United’s decision to sell Jonjo Shelvey without signing a replacement in the January transfer window.
What’s the situation with Newcastle’s midfield?
Newcastle went into the transfer window light in midfield, with Joelinton, Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff and Bruno Guimaraes the main options for the midfield three, and Shelvey playing a backup role.
Shelvey then departed with no new central midfielder coming in, and with Joe Willock picking up an injury and Bruno Guimaraes serving a three-game ban after his recent red card, they have been left light in the middle in recent weeks.
Kennedy, speaking on the NUFC Matters YouTube channel about Newcastle’s January activity amid their bid for Champions League football and silverware, bemoaned the decision to sell Shelvey with no one coming in.
He said: “The biggest problem, like I said earlier, was the business that they didn’t do. Letting Jonjo Shelvey go was problematic in many ways.
“It was a deal that most people, financially, when presented with [it], would have done the same deal; they would have signed it off.
“But it’s the fact they didn’t bring anybody in to replace him, in a department where Newcastle United already felt light going into that January window that was the biggest concern.”
Do Newcastle miss Shelvey since his transfer?
The Englishman has made just one substitute appearance for Forest so far, after only appearing five times in all competitions for Newcastle this season.
The 30-year-old was a good servant during his time at the club, making 202 appearances and helping them return to the top flight from the Championship immediately after their relegation in 2016.
Willock’s injury in the recent draw against Bournemouth meant he was replaced by new signing Anthony Gordon, but the arrival from Everton is naturally a winger rather than a central midfielder, and Shelvey could have been useful to cover in this instance. Meanwhile, Elliot Anderson was selected to start as Guimaraes served the final game of his suspension.
However, with Willock’s injury reportedly a short-term one and Guimaraes set to return next weekend, it seems unlikely that Shelvey will have played much beyond this recent set of fixtures, and youngsters such as Anderson or even Lewis Miley could be of more use to Newcastle than Shelvey given his injury struggles.
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