Jonjo Shelvey

[mrmalaki]

Believe it or not I first heard of this kid from my girlfriend (embaressing huh?), apparently she knew him from school and said he was spoken about as a great player by all the PE staff and everything. I was a little dubious at first (mainly cos the information came from a girl) but looking in to it she, and they, seem to be right.

Currently at Charlton, he has from what I've seen been their standout payer, all be it in a poor season. He was also the captain of England school boys (U-16) just 2 years ago! at the age of 18 he looks to me like he can do two things for us:
1) be a perfect replacement for Butt on all fronts. He is as competent defencively as Butt and better going forward, he is younger and more mobile probably stronger!

2) Could be the keystone for building for the future. Although I believe our youth squad has a number of up and coming players. Tozer, Zamblera, Ranger, LuaLua, Danquah, Baheng, Donaldson, Kadar, Krul & Forster. What they lack is the player that is still "one of them" is respect to being the same age group and that can be "down with the kids" (As it were) but at the same time is a natural leader!

For me he ticks all the boxes as to what we need if we are building for the future. Plus could be quite cheap now that Charlton are going down to LEague 1...

[trophy4toon]

Well here is his entry on Sky Sports scouting reports section. He does look promising, no doubt some Premier League teams will be hovering over the summer. 

The scout reports...
Jonjo Shelvey is already being branded as one of the best players of his generation.

The Romford-born midfielder has come through the ranks at Charlton at a rapid rate and was handed his first-team debut aged just 16 years and 59 days.

But Shelvey's inclusion was not a mere publicity stunt, the hard running and tough tackling midfielder is a huge talent.

He skippered England Under-16s to honours in the Victory Shield and the prestigious Montaigu Tournament.

Despite standing 6ft, Shelvey possesses excellent close control and passing ability and also has an eye for goal. His natural ability is without a doubt.

Obviously his progress into the first-team has had scouts tracking his progress and it remains to be seen how he develops and whether Charlton can hang on to him.


The scout says
If Shelvey continues his progression and his feet can be kept on the ground, the potential of this boy is as good as any in England. Awesome prospect.


The Scout rating
Shooting: 7 out of 10

Passing:8 out of 10

Tackling: 8 out of 10

Heading: 7 out of 10

Pace: 6 out of 10

Vision: 7 out of 10

Current ability: 7 out of 10

Potential ability: 10 out of 10

OVERALL SCOUT RATING: 60/80

Current value: £3million

Potential value: £25million

http://www.skysports.com/football/transfers/scout/0,24035,15198_4095380,00.html

[trophy4toon]

You are correct Mrmalaki, Jonjo Shelvey is attracting the big clubs, one of which rumoured to be Newcastle.

Spurs muscle in on Newcastle and Fulham's chase to sign Charlton whizkid Shelvey
By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 10:02 AM on 29th April 2009
Comments (2) Add to My Stories
Tottenham have reportedly joined the queue of teams keen on Chartlon teenage sensation Jonjo Shelvey.
The 17-year-old looked certain to leave The Valley - even before the club's relegation to League One - and big things are expected of the midfielder.
Newcastle and Fulham are already thought to have been tracking him, but Tottenham may be a more attactive suitor to the Romford-born players.
 Top shelf: Shelvey goes for goal against Blackpool recently
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has already sent his assistant Kevin Bond to check on Shelvey, according to the Daily Mirror.
Last season, the box-to-box midfielder became Charlton's youngest player when he appeared against Barnsley at Oakwell aged 16 years and 59 days.
Shelvey is thought to be the best graduate from the Charlton academy since Scott Parker.
He would join fellow England Under 17 international John Bostock at White Hart Lane, who is one month his junior

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1174929/Spurs-muscle-Newcastle-Fulhams-chase-sign-Charlton-whizkid-Shelvey.html

[trophy4toon]

Good spot from our Trophy4toon talent scouts.

Liverpool signed him yesterday for an initial £1.7 million.

Part of their preparations for having more British players in their squad to counteract restrictions on number of foreign players allowed.     

[mrmalaki]

A year on and we have missed out! Am I surprised? No. Am I disappointed? Yes. I thought he would be someone we could make a move for based on the back of our promotion.

To be fair the likes of L'pool, Chelsea, United etc. shouldn't need to go around signing these youngsters to enable them to have them in the squad. UEFA rules for both the Europa and Champions League are that a 24 man squad must be named with at least 4 "own grown" and 8 (including those 4) "home grown" players must be named in the squad. So have they just been naming really poor squads for Europe in the past few years? I feel sorry for players like Smalling who after a decent season with Fulham (now in the Europa League final) is going to be buried amongst the reserves at United, just incase there is an injury to Ferdinand, Vidic, Brown, O'Shea, Evans, Neville and Evra and probably even De Laet... it's ridiculous the rule was meant to encourage the growth of young British players, but at the moment I can only see it hindering them...