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While plenty of the players Eddie Howe inherited from Steve Bruce at Newcastle United remain at the club, few would doubt there has been quite the turnover in the squad.

Though the likes of Fabian Schar, Joe Willock, Miguel Almiron and Sean Longstaff have scaled new heights under Howe, some of the squad who laboured to midtable finishes under Bruce have now been afforded an exit.

One of those is former Newcastle stalwart Jonjo Shelvey, who actually did feature prominently under Howe before his move to Nottingham Forest in January.

The 31-year-old occupied a deeper role in midfield, allowing Bruno Guimaraes to move forward – a position he has not been able to play since.

Indeed, Howe was not thought to have been particularly looking to sell the former Liverpool midfielder at the time and Shelvey has now opened up on what happened leading up to his departure.

Newcastle news: Jonjo Shelvey’s last words to Eddie Howe

Speaking to The Chronicle, Shelvey confirmed Howe initially did not want him to leave St James’ Park that late into the window.

Still, with his contract dwindling at St James’ Park, the midfielder was looking for a longer-term deal to provide security for his family, with Howe eventually making a U-turn.

While Shelvey eventually left, he confirmed he also apologised to the manager for leaving him light in the midfield department.

“He came in the next day and said because of the way I spoke to him and approached him and because of our relationship, he was going to let me go,” Shelvey said.

“He also said that I had killed him by leaving it too late for the club to bring in another midfield player. I was putting him in the s—, basically. I said, ‘Sorry!’ but I was thankful for the way he let me go. It was an amazing send-off as well.”

Opinion: Sentimentality didn’t cost Newcastle

The idea of a midfielder leaving in January without any cover brought in was certainly risky. Guimaraes, after all, was the only midfielder signed during the PIF era at the time until Sandro Tonali joined months later.

With a top four battle on at the time and a Carabao Cup final to contend with, weakening the options in the squad was not ideal.

Luckily, however, that sentimentally in affording Shelvey the best for his family at a crucial time for the club did not come back to haunt Newcastle. They achieved Champions League qualification and finished the season strongly.

All parties turned out to be winners in that situation.