Newcastle United winger Matt Ritchie has made some bold comments last week and it has sparked hysterics from some sections of the St James’ Park faithful.
The 30-year-old was naming his ‘Dream XI’ in an interview with In the Box, which is available to view on YouTube here.
Who the heck is that?! Can you name all 25 of these obscure Newcastle signings…
One player mentioned was his current Magpies teammate Jonjo Shelvey, he claimed: “If he had his head screwed on he could play for Barcelona. That’s how good he is.”
Shelvey has been at Newcastle since 2016 following a £12m from Swansea City, whom he once joined from Liverpool. The Englishman has gone on to play 131 times for the club, scoring 13 goals and providing 19 assists, via Transfermarkt.
Ritchie’s comments are quite bold considering that’s not the best of returns from the 28-year-old, but he has managed to find the net five times from 16 starts this campaign alone, so maybe he’s now entering his peak.
The box-to-box midfielder is also averaging 1.8 key passes, 1.8 shots and 1.2 tackles per game in the Premier League, via WhoScored.
Here’s how fans have been reacting to the audacious claim…
AND in other news, Newcastle fans react to interest in Jesse Lingard…