The rumours surrounding Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey were circulating for a number of days now and it was presumed that the player would leave the club this summer. The two clubs who apparently showed an interest in the England U-21 international were Swansea City and Crystal Palace though no official confirmation was being made by either clubs.
But now Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has come out in the open with the interest. Recently at an interview with South Wales Evening Post, he said:
“He is a young player we went to watch last year, but it hasn’t gone any further than that. There is an interest there and we are talking to Liverpool. We are still talking on a number of fronts to try to get the right players on the right deals for Swansea City.”
Jonjo Shelvey is no doubt one of the most talented youngsters of Liverpool at the moment, but with Brendan Rodgers opting to bring in Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto from Spain this summer, it looks like that the player would have very limited opportunity to play in the coming seasons. Under these circumstances, it would be beneficial for both the player and the club to part ways with each other. While Shelvey definitely deserves more playing time which he will get at a smaller club, Liverpool will have some more cash to their transfer fund if he leaves. The transfer fee for Shelvey is expected to be around £5-7m.
Liverpool have started their pre season training today with Brendan Rodgers having most of his first team players at his disposal. He wants to start early with the preparations this season to get his players in full shape and also acclimatise the newcomers before the season starts. They have improved quite a bit last season under the young manager and this term they would definitely like to improve further and challenge for the top four slot and much more.
Here are some pictures from the Reds pre-season training camp, which started at their Melwood training ground today.
Images courtesy of allthingsliverpoolfc