Shelvey Regrets Leaving Liverpool Too Soon

Shelvey signed for Liverpool at the age of 18 from Charlton Athletic in May 2010, having been dubbed as one of the best young talents in England.

He made encouraging progress during his early days in Merseyside which was later rewarded with a first England call-up in October 2012, where he was handed his debut in a World Cup qualifier against San Marino.

Despite his huge potential, Shelvey could not earn a place in the first team as he was stuck on the Reds’ periphery.

The Romford-born star eventually left Liverpool for greener pastures in Swansea City, a move which turned out to be fairly rosy.

In a wide-range interview with Sky Sports, the 28-year-old insisted he left Liverpool too soon and admits his move was against the advice of the-then Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers.

"I was only 21 when I left," Shelvey said.

"I don't think you would find many other players who go there at 17 and leave at 21 and I think that speaks a lot of what I'm like as a character.”

“I wasn't happy playing one or two games then coming out of the team. I wanted to carry on playing week in, week out.”

"I'd been on loan at Blackpool, and at Charlton I'd been obviously playing at such an early age. I don't think that helped because you get that knack for playing games and constantly being in the team.”

“When you're playing once and then not playing for six games, I don't care what any footballer says, you don't feel involved. You don't feel part of the team.”

"I think that was the feeling I wanted but, in hindsight, should I have stayed? Probably, yeah. Even if it was only for another year or two, just to see how things changed. But it is what it is at the end of the day.

"Every decision I've made in my career was just to play, to try and get as much game-time as possible. I can't say I've got too many regrets."

Shelvey joined Newcastle United in 2016 and has re-emerged as a key player for the Magpies under head coach Steve Bruce