Why Liverpool Should Have No Regrets About Selling Jonjo Shelvey

Following his full England debut against San Marino, there has been some debate this week over whether Liverpool were right to sell midfielder Jonjo Shelvey to Swansea City two years ago.

Shelvey left Anfield in 2013 for £5 million, becoming a key player for the Welsh side. He's benefited from being a regular at the Swans and is now showing signs of maturity at age 23.

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"I wonder how Brendan Rodgers feels as he watches Jonjo Shelvey go from strength to strength," wrote the ever-controversial Adrian Durham for MailOnline.

Durham later wrote, "Apparently as Shelvey drove down to south Wales to complete his move from Liverpool, Rodgers called him to ask him to stay. But Shelvey went through with the move."

There's no "apparently" about it, as Shelvey explained earlier this year. "I was on the way to Swansea and [Rodgers] told me I didn't have to go," Shelvey told BBC Sport in March. "He spent hours on the phone to my dad in an effort to try and get me to stay. But I had made up my mind to come."

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Shelvey went through with the move because he, and the whole footballing world, knew that he needed to be playing regular football in order to develop as he desired—it's the reason Rodgers allowed the then-21-year-old to make the decision on whether to stay or go.

Let's not forget that Shelvey had started just three matches in the second half of his last season at Anfield and in total was an unused substitute (17 times) almost as many times as he actually played from the start (18 times) that season, per LFCHistory.net.

At the time, Shelvey lacked composure and Rodgers felt he couldn't trust the raw youngster—especially in big games.

Yes, Shelvey had all the tools to develop into the established Premier League midfielder he is now becoming, but two years ago, he was not going to be able to progress by remaining at Anfield—certainly not at the rate he has been able to at Swansea.

At a club with lower expectations, there has been less pressure on the former Charlton Athletic man. He's been able to make mistakes—some of them high-profile ones—but mostly remains in the manager's first XI. Such events would have been far less forgiving under the spotlight of being a Liverpool player.

Speaking with the Independent's Carl Markham shortly after the move to Swansea, Shelvey explained:

"

[Rodgers] couldn't guarantee me the first-team football at Liverpool, and he said if I could get the game time at Swansea then I should definitely go.

I could have stayed at Liverpool and fought for my place because they didn't want to get rid of me, but I felt, in the end, I needed to come and make a name for myself.

Rather than sit on the bench every week at Liverpool I need to come and play football and get myself to the status that I once had.

"

He reiterated those comments to the Mirror's John Cross last week: "I could have just stayed at Liverpool, been on the bench and tried to fight for a place there. But I wanted to come away and play regular football.

"I’m playing every week and getting a ­consistency now."

None of which would have happened had he stayed at Anfield. Shelvey knew it, Rodgers knew it. Hence he moved. It was a mature decision made mutually between two parties, both ensuring the player got the best development possible.

Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing and football fans with an axe to grind will gladly twist the past to criticise a manager—such as Rodgers—where they can. But selling Shelvey shouldn't be one of those situations.

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Shelvey has repeatedly acknowledged Rodgers' role in where he is now, telling BBC Sport earlier this year, "I will always be grateful to Brendan because he was honest and said he couldn't offer me the game time I wanted and needed.

"He had a great relationship with Swansea and he told me they would be a perfect fit for me if I did want to leave," he said.

Such honesty should be applauded, not used as an excuse to criticise Rodgers years later.

At the time of Shelvey's sale, former Liverpool defender Tommy Smith wrote in the Liverpool Echo: "I’m not sure Brendan Rodgers felt he could fully trust Shelvey and I would not criticise the Reds boss one bit for his decision to offload Shelvey in the summer."

To say Liverpool should regret allowing Shelvey to go is wrong. It would have been a bigger regret to have kept him and therefore not allowed him to develop into the player he has become.

Ideally, Liverpool would somehow have had an option to purchase the player back, but that's a deal that Swansea would never have agreed to.

With 18 players currently out on loan, players such as Lazar Markovic and Tiago Ilori, Liverpool could learn from the Shelvey situation and hope they develop away from the club before being able to establish themselves at Anfield.

It does, however, make it all the more baffling that Markovic wasn't sent on loan to another Premier League side, where he could benefit in a manner similar to Shelvey.

What's clear, though, is that Shelvey wouldn't be the player he is today had he remained at Liverpool two years ago. Even the player himself has said as much.