Sky Sports presenter Joe Thomlinson has been speaking on the Football Daily YouTube channel about Joelinton and his resurgence at Newcastle United.
Joelinton is continuing to impress and perform in his newfound central-midfield role under Eddie Howe, which was somewhat found by accident when he dropped into that position after Ciaran Clark was sent off against Norwich City earlier in the season.
Is Joelinton Newcastle's Player of the Season?
Yes!
No!
The Brazilian was originally bought as a £40m striker under Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce, but he is now a dominant midfielder ranking highly for touches in the opposition’s box, as well as being in the top 5% for blocks and the top 3% for aerial duels won across Europe’s top five leagues (FBRef).
While Joelinton has impressed in midfield, he was stuck up front against the Canaries on Saturday by Howe and managed to double his goal tally for the season, something that Thomlinson was left impressed by after blasting his goalscoring ability earlier in the Brazilian’s Newcastle career.
He said: “To double his goal tally for the season, [he] took his goals really well. The finish for the first one, I think, is fabulous, given that we’ve kind of hammered his finishing ability for a couple of seasons now.
“It’s brilliant to see Eddie Howe kind of getting a tune out of him.”
TIF Thoughts on Joelinton…
The Brazilian now finds himself as Newcastle United’s third-highest scorer but has become more than a striker, leading the way in tackles, pressures and touches – showing everything pretty much goes through him.
It really was a stunning finish from Joelinton for his first goal which set the Magpies on their way to all three points, but it’s still very evident that he’s a central midfielder and not a natural striker given that he still has just 14 goals in 113 appearances for the Magpies.
In other news: ‘Certainly’ – Journalist now claims Howe to recall Newcastle £6.3m-rated ace for Liverpool clash