Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is good enough to play for Barcelona - but he plays too much golf, according to team-mate Matt Ritchie.
Shelvey started his career at Charlton before earning a move to Liverpool in 2010. The midfielder spent three years at Anfield before joining Swansea, and then moved on the the Magpies three years later.
The 28-year-old has plenty of talent, having been capped six times at senior level for England, but has never quite translated it into consistent performances at the top level.
And Magpies winger Ritchie has offered one possible reason, suggesting that Shelvey has his eyes on a different sport altogether.
Ritchie's description suggests that were Shelvey ever to make a surprise move to LaLiga, Gareth Bale would have a rival for his nickname of 'The Golfer'.
Ritchie told the In The Box podcast: "For me, I've said to him so many times: 'If you just got your head down, focused solely on football and forgot about golf and whatever else...'
"It's true, though, isn't it? He's mad. He'll play golf three times a week, and I'm like: 'Jonj, you can't do that'. He's like: 'No, no, I feel better, Matty'. I'm like: 'That's impossible'.
"But what a player, what a player. I've been at Newcastle now for four years, and I've honestly seen him inside a box [rondo] no more than 10 times. That's how good he is - and we do boxes every day.
"This guy has the natural ability to just see passes, to receive the ball, to move the ball.
"Obviously, he's got his moves and he's ended up at Newcastle. But I say to him very regular: 'Jonj, if you had your head screwed on, you could play for Barcelona so easily.'
"He's that good, isn't he? He is, though. He's that good.
"He's got everything... but - and this is no disrespect to us at Newcastle - I feel like if he was playing for a Barcelona or Real Madrid, you could imagine he'd blow teams away with his ability.
"You've got to have everything in the right place, and he likes his golf too much, doesn't he?"
