Jonjo Shelvey is poised to win a new contract at Newcastle.
The long-serving United midfielder has signalled his intent to stay part of the club’s Saudi-funded revolution under Eddie Howe. Shelvey is backing himself to be a mainstay in Howe’s midfield plans despite the arrival of Brazil midfielder Bruno Giumaraes and the spending power to buy more in the coming years.
Shelvey has one season left on his current deal and is set to trigger an extension of another year to take him up to almost eight years on Tyneside. The former Liverpool and England star said: “I’ve got three games to get another year, and hopefully I should do that this season. I mean, I’d be a bit worried if I didn’t!
"At the end of the day you’re always playing for a new contract and I’m not thick, I’m not getting younger. I’m 30 years of age and I look about 40! You just want to be part of it. The only way for this club is up and a lot of people would want to be in my shoes.
"The positivity is great around the club. We went through a really bad spell. I’ve been here six-and-a-half years now, we know what the craic is around the city and what you can and can’t do. It’s a really good place to be at the minute, the city is buzzing. My missus and kids love it up here.”
Shelvey, who joined in January 2016, says Howe has improved him as a player because of his obsession with coaching. He explained: “He’s constantly on you, reviewing your game, showing you clips. He lives and breathes football and has instilled that into everyone at the club. It’s football, football, football.
"He’s helped me massively defensively. I think last year I was really, really good defensively and it’s not natural for me to have a defensive mind. But I feel I’ve developed a lot on that side of the game.”
Newcastle lost 1-0 to Mainz in a friendly in Kufstein, Austria, and will now head to Portugal to play Benfica. Howe played his entire first team squad for at least 30 minutes, and said: “I thought that was a better performance than in our first game in Austria. It is the end of a long week, the lads have done a lot of training.
“I was pleased with certain aspects. Obviously, we need to improve around their goal. Our creativity wasn’t quite there. When you watch pre-season games back, you have to have a very critical eye, but also acknowledge where the lads are at. The most important thing is that we’re ready for the first game, not this game today.”
