Did Liverpool Make a Mistake Selling Jonjo Shelvey?

On Monday night, Liverpool will face a rejuvenated Swansea City side boasting a player some might argue never should have been allowed to leave Anfield.

In the summer of 2013, Jonjo Shelvey was sold to Swansea for £5 million, and Liverpool have since had to watch as he has evolved in to an impressive Premier League performer in South Wales.

A month ago, it was the in-form Shelvey whose rasping long-range shot was deflected in off of Bafetimbi Gomis to secure a valuable win over Manchester United at the Liberty Stadium, and now he will be hoping to repeat this against his former team.

There have been missteps and mistakes, but Shelvey is still only 23 and is now emerging as both a commanding and creative central midfielder.

He has played a leading role in Swansea being on course for their largest ever points total in the Premier League this season.

This has won the praise of his manager, Garry Monk, who told the Mirror he believes Shelvey has a lot more to show and could soon be recalled to the England squad to add to his solitary cap.

“He is a great talent with unbelievable ability, unbelievable,” Monk said. “He can go as far as he wants. It’s as simple as that. All he has to do is make sure he is focused, his attitude is spot-on and he works hard.”

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At a time when Liverpool are preparing to bid farewell to their captain, Steven Gerrard, and attempting to fill a vacuum in central midfield, should they have shown more patience with Shelvey?

While he has certainly improved since that summer, the truth is, so have Liverpool.

For a Liverpool side who want to be challenging for titles and playing in the Champions League every season, Shelvey is not the calibre of player they should be coveting.

He is good, but he remains not good enough for Liverpool.

There should be no angst or regrets inside Anfield; selling Shelvey, and for a significant profit, was good business.

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If he were still at Anfield, would he even be able to win a place in the starting lineup?

Who would he be chosen in front of? Not Philippe Coutinho, who is consistently proving his rare talent on a weekly basis now.

And certainly not Jordan Henderson, who has also been enjoying a rich run of form in recent months.

Shelvey would be at the back of the queue behind these two, as well as Joe Allen, Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling and Gerrard.

If Liverpool should enter the transfer market to replace Gerrard, they will surely choose a player from the elite of the European game. 

Shelvey would be a useful addition to the Liverpool squad, but a player of his ability had already grown tired of sitting on the bench two years ago, prompting his move.

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It might sound harsh, but Shelvey has probably found his level at Swansea, a side that matches his drive and creativity, but one that is doing well to finish in the middle of the table.

The last viewing Liverpool had of Shelvey in December would have done nothing to dissuade them of the idea they were right to sell him.

When Swansea visited Anfield four days after Christmas, Shelvey scored an own goal in a 4-1 defeat, and he also needlessly swung his arm into the face of Liverpool’s Emre Can, which would lead to him retrospectively being given a four-match ban.

In the buildup to this game, Garry Monk had spoken about the need for Shelvey to control himself and show more discipline, having already picked up a red card and seven yellow cards this season, and here he was overtly ignoring that advice.

The watching Jamie Carragher, a former Liverpool team-mate of Shelvey’s, said on Sky, via the Daily Mail, “You'd see this two or three times a week in training. He has bags of ability, Shelvey, but unfortunately he can do stuff like that too.”

Carragher gives an insight into the frustrations felt about Shelvey during his time at Anfield. He was a player who had talent but didn’t show it enough in his three seasons.

He was too undisciplined, too inconsistent, and his two goals in 47 Premier League games was a distinctly modest record for an attacking midfielder.

While Shelvey is in fine form at the moment, it was as recently as December that Monk spoke to the BBC about the player’s “laziness” on the pitch and how he needed to "wise up" and show more effort.

In the season after Shelvey left, Liverpool finished as runners-up and came agonisingly close to winning their first league title in 24 years with some wonderfully fluid and attacking football.

No one questioned Shelvey’s sale as they watched Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez run through defences at will as Liverpool scored over 100 Premier League goals.

Liverpool have outgrown Shelvey, and the decision to sell him remains a sound one.