Leeds now want to sign player who blew Eddie Howe away with his ‘incredible’ technical ability
Leeds United are reportedly interested in signing former Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey from Nottingham Forest.
According to TeamTalk, the Whites are considering a move for Shelvey who only made the move to the City Ground back in January earlier this year.
Forest manager Steve Cooper is happy to let Shelvey leave before the end of the window with the 31-year-old already out of his plans.
As per the report, Shelvey and Cooper are said to have had a bust up at the end of last season which saw him miss the final seven matches, as well as the opening two of the current campaign.
Shelvey put pen-to-paper on a two-and-a-half year deal upon his move from Newcastle United, where he had played a big role in the early stages of their renaissance under Eddie Howe.
Leeds want to sign Shelvey who blew Howe away with his technical ability
Howe was appointed at Newcastle back in November 2021 and took them from the bottom of the Premier League to a comfortable mid-table finish in the matter of months.
Shelvey started and captained the side in several of those matches, with Howe having been blown away by his technical ability upon his arrival.
He told the Northern Echo: “I think we’ve got some very good players, some very good technical players. Just picking one for example – Jonjo Shelvey – I knew how good Jonjo was on the ball, technically, having played against him and seen him many times.
“But then when you actually work with him, you realise that he’s an incredible technician. He can play passes all over the pitch – long, short.
“He’s someone that I’ve looked at in terms of our philosophy and how we want to play, he’ll be very important for us as the season develops.”
There is no doubt that Shelvey possesses technical ability beyond that of the Championship but there has to be question marks about the baggage he would bring with him.
To have fallen out with a manager like Cooper in the space of just three months should raise alarm bells and there are certainly better options out there that Daniel Farke should look at instead.
Saturday afternoon’s contest at Portman Road will present United’s fourth game of the new Championship season and Daniel Farke’s side have been strong favourites with the bookmakers for the three fixtures they have taken in so far.
Leeds were long odds on to beat opening weekend visitors Cardiff City only for the contest to end in a 2-2 draw and the Whites were also firm favourites for both the 1-0 loss at Birmingham City and Friday night’s 1-1 draw against visiting West Brom.
But as part of a big change, Leeds are now seen as the underdogs for Saturday’s next Championship assignment at Saturday’s hosts Ipswich, representing the first time that United have not been viewed as ‘favourites’ upon the club’s drop back to English football’s second tier.
