£12m ex-Newcastle United man ‘closing in’ on surprise transfer after being spotted at training ground

Shelvey is currently a free agent after leaving Turkish side Eyupspor and has been training with Burnley over the last few weeks. The former Newcastle United man, who joined the Magpies in a £12m deal back in January 2016, moved to Turkey in 2023 after a brief spell with Nottingham Forest, but has returned to England in search of a new club.

Burnley, who currently sit second in the Championship table, could be his next destination as they push for an immediate return to the Premier League. Under the guidance of former Magpie Scott Parker, Burnley have enjoyed a very good campaign to date with the 44-year-old confirming that conversations between the Clarets and Shelvey will take place imminently.

“He [Shelvey] is training at the moment, yeah.” Parker confirmed. “So he's been with us now for a couple of days now, three or four days training with us.

“We decided to bring Jonjo in, understand his quality. So yeah, just wanted to have a closer look on Jonjo.

“We've not made a decision yet and we'll have them conversations in the coming days with Jonjo on how I see things and where he sits with it as well, really.”

Pushed on whether a move for Shelvey was going to happen this month, Parker said: “I'm not really sure at this present moment in time.

“Like I said, it's been such a short space of time that Jonjo's been in here. He's been first class since he's come in, applied himself in the right way. But it's still too early to say.”

During a seven-year spell on Tyneside, Shelvey played over 200 times for the Magpies and enjoyed success as a first-team regular under Rafa Benitez and Eddie Howe. Shelvey was reluctantly allowed to leave Tyneside in January 2023 to join Nottingham Forest after the midfielder expressed a desire to seek a new challenge.

However, he played just eight times at the City Ground before falling out of favour under Steve Cooper and eventually left the club in summer 2023.