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Liverpool were always going to offload a player or two this summer; Andy Carroll's exit was the most likely, with Jay Spearing following close behind, and hopes remain that the club can still either find a suitable upgrade on Stewart Downing, as he's serviceable enough but not worth the wages he's on. But talk of Jonjo Shelvey's future wasn't really on the radar until season's end, and it's grown and grown--starting with a loan move, then progressing to a permanent deal away--until it today becomes reality, with the young midfielder joining Swansea City.
The deal could eventually cost the reigning League Cup champions £6m, which is a decent profit on the £1.7m the club spent up front to bring him over from Charlton in May of 2010. Liverpool are pithy as ever in their announcement of the transfer:
Liverpool Football Club have confirmed Jonjo Shelvey has completed a transfer to Swansea City. The 21-year-old spent three years at Anfield after joining from Charlton Athletic in May 2010. In total, he made 69 appearances for the Reds, scoring seven goals. Everybody at Liverpool FC would like to wish Jonjo all the best for the future.
As we've discussed before, it's a sea change in sentiment from last summer, when Shelvey stormed through the preseason and cemented himself as an early favorite under new manager Brendan Rodgers. As the manager and squad around him grew, however, the player simply didn't, finding himself as the odd-man out for most of the season's middle months. Appearances at the end of the season didn't prove enough to secure his Liverpool future, and he's now tasked with starting over at Swansea.
Best of luck to Jonjo during the coming season and beyond, and hopefully he finds a way to grow into the player that Rodgers lauded openly and directly last August.