Before their match against Sunderland this weekend, Burnley is working with former Newcastle United star Jonjo Shelvey, who could be signed.
The midfielder, who was signed from Swansea City in 2016, worked for Steve McClaren, Eddie Howe, Rafa Benitez, and Steve Bruce during his seven years at St. James’ Park. Shelvey had only been in charge for five months when the Magpies were demoted, but he was crucial to their comeback the following season.
In the last years of the Mike Ashley era, Newcastle battled hard every season to survive. The 32-year-old, who formed a midfield combination with Isaac Hayden, played in seven seasons and made 202 appearances across all competitions.
Shelvey moved on after the Saudi-backed purchase promised investment and United’s natural evolution. After unsuccessful stints at Nottingham Forest and Turkey, the former England player is now hoping to return to the United Kingdom.
Shelvey is training with Burnley, who will play Sunderland on Saturday, according to former Toon captain Scott Parker. “He’s still training at the moment, yes,” the Clarets manager stated. After three or four days of instruction, he has now been with us for a few days. We chose to bring Jonjo in since we were aware of his abilities and simply wanted to take a closer look.
We haven’t decided yet, and we’ll talk to Jonjo about my perspective and his actually position on the matter in the days ahead. I’m not really certain at this time whether a deal is close.
“Jonjo has been here for such a short period of time. However, he has been excellent since he arrived and has put in the necessary effort. However, it’s too soon to tell.”
