It's common enough for incoming managers to try to take a player or two with them from their old clubs, but movement in the opposite direction doesn't seem to happen nearly as often. Rare as it may be, Jonjo Shelvey is currently the focus of a switch from Merseyside to Brendan Rodgers' previous club Swansea.
A lot has changed for the midfielder in the last year. Rodgers christened Shelvey as one of his favourite pupils during pre-season, only for the player to spend the second half of the season riding the bench regularly as an unused substitute more often than not. It's not necessarily fair to characterize Shelvey's season as a fall from grace, but it became clear that he wasn't living up to the vision Rodgers had in his head for the player's contributions to the team.
With a clown car full of midfielders at his disposal already and the potential for even more on the way, Rodgers has a lot of personnel to fill very few starting positions. Shelvey is still only twenty-one and, like with most of his young teammates, there have already been calls for the player to be sent out on loan to further develop his game. Instead, Swansea are apparently speaking with Rodgers with an eye on purchasing the player outright for a £5 million fee.
Few would begrudge the player leaving the club on a permanent basis to ply his trade somewhere he could make more of an impact and improve his own development situation. The deal could allegedly be wrapped up in the next few days and would see Shelvey become Liverpool's second player to transfer out of the club before the window opens.
Read More: What to Do With Jonjo Shelvey