Speaking to the club’s official website, Jonjo Shelvey has insisted that he’s ‘fighting’ for his place at Newcastle United and will stick around “until he’s told otherwise’ – despite reported interest from West Ham.
Jonjo scored a stunner and performed well in our final day win at Fulham, however his injury-riddled season and lack of starts under Rafa have seen be strongly linked with a move this summer.
He’s back at the training ground already (see footage below) and although some will be wondering whether he’s now ready to impress Rafa or preparing for West Ham move, his comments suggest he’s fully focused on Newcastle and fighting to get back into Benitez’s first-team.
Here’s what he had to say during an intriguing in-depth interview with NUFC TV:
“Last season wasn’t the best for me.
“The truth is, I got a very, very bad injury and I’m not looking for excuses but that is the reason I was out (of the team). I took a number of injections to try and get me to play games but it just wasn’t to be.
“People will write you off, but as far as I’m aware I’m a Newcastle United player and until I’m told otherwise I’ll keep fighting for a spot in this team and to show everyone how good I am.”
Fair play to Jonjo. He appears to have improved his disciplinary record in recent seasons and his fitness levels – when he’s not injured (if that makes sense) – have also improved.
He talks about doing ‘5-6km’ runs each day in the interview (see it in full here) and now looks much leaner than he was when he first arrived from Swansea, with him clearly making an effort before each pre-season to be in the best shape possible.
His quality isn’t in doubt, but some have questioned if he’s a ‘Rafa Benitez player’. Maybe he isn’t, and maybe a move to West Ham will happen this summer, but you have to admire his honesty and the fact he’s doing all he can to get back into Benitez’s plans at NUFC.
Never, in the history of the game has a player comeout and saud “I can’t see the point – I’m outa here!”
But they still go!
Brrrian(Quote)