Newcastle United midfielder JoelintonNewcastle United midfielder Joelinton
Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton | Getty Images
Joelinton has missed 36 per cent of Newcastle United’s Premier League games in the past two seasons.
Few players personify the Saudi-backed era at St James’ Park quite like Joelinton. A behemoth of a man, but one who arrived at Newcastle United as a meek centre-forward unable to hit a barn door with a banjo.
Just take a look at a photo from 2019 and compare the contrast to his present-day physique. From the neck down, Joelinton could easily be fooled as a different person. Oh, what an odyssey it has been.
The sight of the Brazilian, with veins bulging from those brutish legs and shoulders like boulders, bulldozing through Premier League engine rooms, all done while demonstrating an uber-selfless playing style, is tailor-made to the rigours and demands imposed by the Toon faithful. However, of late, has that fan-friendly playing style come at a cost?
An under-the-radar start is how Joelinton has missed 29 per cent of Newcastle’s league games since August 2022. Using the last two seasons alone, that figure rises to 36 per cent.
A knee injury ruled the 28-year-old out for the final two games of the season as the Magpies limped over the line. Eddie Howe overhauled the system in Joelinton’s absence, with Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes operating as a pair in a 3-4-3 setup.
Did his radical approach - rather than going like-for-like with Lewis Miley, Joe Willock or Sean Longstaff - point towards a lack of trust? While Miley remains a novice, the other two have not pulled up trees when given a chance to shine.
Newcastle have bodies in midfield but Joelinton’s niggles - he is far from being placed into the injury-prone category - should cause slight concern. A congested campaign is upcoming and the Magpies need adequate cover.
Two years ago, Howe was forced to run Bruno Guimaraes, Longstaff and Miley into the ground as Joelinton, Joe Willock and Tonali were sidelined. He will be well aware of this heading into the summer transfer window.
NewcastleWorld understands a right-winger, centre-back and goalkeeper are three priorities for the St James’ Park hierarchy. But there would be little surprise if another midfielder is in the pipeline - especially if Longstaff heads for an expected exit.
Eddie Howe’s recent Joelinton update
Supporters remained hopeful that Joelinton could make a swift injury return against Arsenal or Chelsea. It was not to be - despite Howe dangling the carrot of optimism at a press conference.
“With Joe you never rule him out,” he said. “He's so motivated to try and come back. We sought specialist opinion, and the opinion was it was nothing serious but he needed a period of rest so he's now in Brazil.
"We'll wait and see if we can get him back before the end of the season but the likelihood is probably not."
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