Jonjo Shelvey turned down two clubs to seal £12m Newcastle move

JONJO SHELVEY rejected two other clubs in the south of England to join Newcastle, according to one of his new team-mates.

 

Jonjo Shelvey and Rob Elliot are friends who go back to their days at Charlton

 

The 23-year-old completed his £12million move to St James' Park on Tuesday to become Steve McClaren's second signing of the January transfer window.

Rob Elliot previously played alongside Shelvey at Charlton and is currently Newcastle's first-choice goalkeeper with Tim Krul out injured.

And Elliot has revealed that Shelvey could have gone elsewhere.

 

"We have Jonjo coming into to add quality to midfield," he said. 

"We can only expect good things. He’s class.

“To put it into perspective he came into our team at 16-years-old at Charlton, and you’d have thought he was 28. 

"I am so excited he’s signed. He’s not only a great lad but he’s a winner.

 

“OK, he might go over the top a little bit but that’s what the fans love. He just wants to play. He had a lot of options to go to clubs.”

Crystal Palace's Alan Pardew was reportedly one of the managers interested in picking up the midfielder when it became clear Swansea would be willing to let him go.

But Elliot claims the pull of a club the size of Newcastle was too great for the England international to resist.

"He turned down a couple of clubs where he could have lived at home," Elliot added.

“So that shows what he thinks of Newcastle as a club and what he thinks of the stadium. He said to me he thought Newcastle was a big club.

 

“No matter what the outside world thinks of Newcastle you should come here and see the passion of 50,000.

“He watched his first game from the stands against Man United. Why wouldn’t you want to play for Newcastle?

“So hopefully, it will be great for everybody moving forward.”

Shelvey joins a Newcastle side staring down the barrel of another relegation battle as they sit 19th in the Premier League table.

However, they are just a point behind Shelvey's old club Swansea and safety from the drop.

 

And Eliiot reckons the former Liverpool midfielder will add plenty of passion to excite the famous crowd in the north east.

"Jonjo wears his heart on his sleeve and is a proper Essex boy," he added.

“He has a pure desire to play football and doesn’t care about anything else. So he will fit in really well up here, the fans will love him.

“The only thing I’d say is that he’s still 23 so it could be a bit of patience with him.

“All players need time. Hopefully, he settles in straight away. He’s a top man.”