Nottingham Forest announce signing of Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey

Nottingham Forest have confirmed the signing of Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey.

The East Midlands outfit went into deadline day having already brought in two players for the centre of the pitch in the form of Gustavo Scarpa and Danilo.

However, over the weekend, it emerged that Steve Cooper was bidding to add the experienced Shelvey to his squad, despite his injury issues.

After Magpies boss Eddie Howe acknowledged on Monday that a deal was likely to go through, Forest announced that they had signed the Englishman at 11pm on Tuesday evening.

The transfer had been finalised earlier in the day, but Forest delayed an announcement until after Newcastle had faced Southampton in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final, a game attended by Shelvey.

Making himself at home. 🤩 #ShelveySigns 🌳 pic.twitter.com/LGFEQGMC8j

— Nottingham Forest FC (@NFFC) January 31, 2023

While a fee has not been disclosed, Forest have revealed that Shelvey has penned a two-and-a-half-year contract at the City Ground.

Having struggled with injury for much of the campaign, the 30-year-old will be hoping to eventually earn more playing time having been restricted to one start and four substitute outings in 2022-23.

Speaking to the club's official website, Shelvey said: "It's a pleasure to be here. As soon as I found out Forest were interested, it caught my eye straight away and I just couldn't wait to get down here.

"It's a fantastic football club that has so much history and I'm really looking forward to getting started.

"My main goal straight away is to fight for my place in the team and stay there. It's not going to be easy because there's a lot of competition for places, but it's a challenge I'm really looking forward to and the competitiveness can only help the team going forward."

In moving to Forest, Shelvey brings a seven-year stay at St James' Park to an end having made 202 appearances in all competitions, scoring 18 goals.