Jonjo Shelvey has suggested that he wishes he had remained at Liverpool during the early stages of his career.
At a time when he was only regarded as a backup option at Anfield, Shelvey moved to Swansea City, where he quickly became an important part of the starting lineup.
However, despite having established himself as a Premier League player with Newcastle United, the former England international has acknowledged that he has some regrets about his departure from Liverpool in 2013.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, the 28-year-old said: "I was only 21 when I left. I don't think you would find many other players who go there at 17 and leave at 21 and I think that speaks a lot of what I'm like as a character. I wasn't happy playing one or two games then coming out of the team. I wanted to carry on playing week in, week out.
"I'd been on loan at Blackpool, and at Charlton I'd been obviously playing at such an early age. I don't think that helped because you get that knack for playing games and constantly being in the team. When you're playing once and then not playing for six games, I don't care what any footballer says, you don't feel involved. You don't feel part of the team.
"I think that was the feeling I wanted but, in hindsight, should I have stayed? Probably, yeah. Even if it was only for another year or two, just to see how things changed, but it is what it is at the end of the day.
"Every decision I've made in my career was just to play, to try and get as much game-time as possible. I can't say I've got too many regrets."
In all competitions for Liverpool, Shelvey scored seven goals from 31 starts and 38 substitute appearances.
Darren Plant
