Jonjo Shelvey Identifies Two Reasons For Michu’s Decline After Incredible Premier League Debut Season

Jonjo Shelvey has suggested that the decline of Premier League cult hero Michu could be owed to his lack of sleep and the arrival of Wilfried Bony at Swansea City.

Swansea only paid Spanish side Rayo Vallecano £2m to land Michu, 34, on a three-year deal in 2012.

And the Spaniard had a sensational impact in his debut Premier League season as he scored 22 times across all competitions and Swansea captured the League Cup.

Michu, who became a favourite with fans, only scored twice in his second season before he was shipped off to Napoli in a loan deal.

Shelvey, 28, would play alongside the former Spain international after he signed for Swansea in 2013.

But the Newcastle midfielder believes that the signing of Bony -- a week after Shelvey signed for the club -- was one of the catalysts for Michu's decline.

"When I signed I think [Michu] was their sort of main guy in terms of goals and that," he told The Beautiful Game Podcast.

"Then a week after I signed, Wilfried Bony signed. I think personally that sort of knocked the stuffing out of him because Wilfried came in on a big deal and as the main striker and after that it didn't really work out for Michu.

"I only played with him for about six or seven months, but you could tell his finishing was just ridiculous."

Shelvey also revealed that Michu was severely sleep-deprived and would be up "playing PlayStation till like four o'clock in the morning."

The former Swansea star said: "We had these bands to wear for when you go to sleep. They monitor you to show how much you are sleeping.

"They put it all up on a screen in the canteen. We had a meeting, there were a few lads going to bed at like 12 and that, on one graph he showed that someone was sleeping for three hours a night, and it was Michu.

"He was coming in and his eyes were drowsy and puffy, it turned out he was just up playing PlayStation till like four o'clock in the morning.

"I don't know if [he] had always been like that. He looked tired all the time, then he got a bad injury.

"I don't even know what he's doing now, he sort of disappeared off the face of the earth, but when he was at Swansea he got a Spain call-up, he played for Spain and you don't get Spanish call-ups if you can't play football."

Michu would play for Spanish sides Langreo and Oviedo after his loan spell at Napoli before retiring from football in 2017.

Featured Image Credit: PA/The Beautiful Game Podcast

Topics: Football News, Football, Premier League

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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