Ex-Newcastle United ace who ‘pleaded’ with Eddie Howe to leave this year is moving club again

Former Newcastle United star Jonjo Shelvey is set for an early exit from Nottingham Forest after an apparent falling out with manager Steve Cooper. Reports have claimed the two were involved in a ‘heated conversation’ and now he is looking for a new opportunity away from the City Ground.

The midfielder left St James’ Park in January this year to join Newcastle’s Premier League rivals after pleading with former manager Eddie Howe to green light his departure.

Despite only being with Forest for eight months and his contract running until 2025, Shelvey looks set to join Turkish club Rizespor for the remainder of the season, as reported by The Telegraph. The 31-year-old hasn’t played for the Reds since April and has clocked just eight appearances overall with Forest.

Shelvey now finds himself in a very similar position to the one he was in at the start of the year. After seven years with Newcastle, the Romford-born midfielder pleaded with Howe to let him leave in order to give himself the best possible chance at kick-starting his career up again.

During the 2022/23 season, the former Liverpool man spent a chunk of time out injured an ultimately played just 34 minutes for Newcastle before leaving to join Forest.

Shelvey admitted that while the Magpies boss initially rejected his request, he changed his mind and told him that ‘he wouldn’t stand in the way of my happiness’ as he made a decision to prioritise his future on the pitch.

“Eddie did say no, he said he couldn’t let me go at first. I sort of pleaded with him to let me go, a lot of people don’t know this. He told me to sleep on it, then he said they could only let me go if they can get one in. I said I needed to leave, for a fresh start, I put my points across.”