Jonjo Shelvey spoke 'from the heart' when the long-serving midfielder addressed his former Newcastle United team-mates for the last time.
Shelvey completed his switch to Nottingham Forest on deadline day following seven years of service at Newcastle. The deal was formally announced on Tuesday night after Shelvey had the chance to bid farewell to supporters, staff and players at St James' Park.
This was clearly something Shelvey was keen to do on a night Newcastle reached their first League Cup final in 47 years. Indeed, after finalising his move at the City Ground in the morning, Shelvey travelled back up the A1 to support the club and say his goodbyes.
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Shelvey had the opportunity to salute the fans on the pitch with his kids at half-time before making his way down to the dressing room after the 2-1 win against Southampton to say a few words. It was a speech Fabian Schar certainly won't forget.
"It was emotional, actually," the defender told ChronicleLive. "What he was saying was coming from his heart.
"I've played with him for four-and-a-half years and he's an unbelievable player but, also, a great character. The whole team is going to miss him. This dressing room is going to miss him.
"The same as Woodsy [Chris Wood] and all the players that have left. Jonjo has been here for seven years and done unbelievable so I wish him nothing but the best, but I'm sad that he is leaving."
Although Shelvey did not make a single league start for Newcastle in an injury-ravaged campaign to date, the midfielder has certainly played his part in the Magpies' turnaround in the last 12 months. In fact, it was Shelvey who scored a crucial winner in the 1-0 victory at Leeds last season, which ended up proving a turning point.
Shelvey had also been a huge figure off the field for Eddie Howe as one of the leaders in the dressing room who knew more than most what it meant to play for Newcastle. Shelvey not only stayed with the club after relegation in 2016; the playmaker helped Newcastle win promotion and helped keep the black-and-whites in the top-flight when they just so easily could have gone down on a number of occasions.
You can see why Howe did not want to lose Shelvey, particularly at a time when Newcastle only have five central midfielders battling it out for three starting positions. However, like Chris Wood's own move to the City Ground, Howe respected Shelvey's wishes to join Forest at a time when the 30-year-old only had a few months left on his contract at Newcastle.
Shelvey, for his part, hailed his spell at Newcastle as the 'most amazing time I've had in football so far' in an open letter and that was something the former England international got across in his words to players and staff, too.
"He spoke really well," Howe told reporters. "I was really pleased to see him speak in the way that he did, expressing his thanks to everybody in the room and just looking back at his journey with the club.
"He's been an incredible servant for the football club over many years. In dark times as well for the club, he has always stood up and given his best for the club. I can't speak highly enough of him as a player and as a person, and we're devastated to lose him."
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