Joelinton for Brazil? How Newcastle's £40m forward flop found a future in midfield

The club-record signing was Bruce's first buy for £40million back in 2019.

But it was Newcastle's head of recruitment Steve Nickson, not Bruce, who identified Joelinton – Nickson and Mike Ashley could not convince Rafael Benitez, Bruce's predecessor, to pay even £20m for the forward – and the Geordie boss appeared to have no idea how best to utilise his new man.

There were signs of promise when Joelinton scored twice in pre-season and added a brilliant winner at Tottenham in his third Premier League outing, but the goalless drought that followed spanned 20 matches in all competitions. The man in Newcastle's prized number nine shirt attempted 39 shots in 2,130 minutes between his first and second league goals.

In 89 games under Bruce, Joelinton scored 10 goals and laid on eight assists. The Brazilian had matched those 18 goal involvements (11 goals, seven assists) in 35 appearances in his sole season as a regular at Hoffenheim before leaving for England.

So, when the 25-year-old found the net 39 minutes into Eddie Howe's Newcastle tenure, there was hope he could benefit from a fresh start – and he has done... just not as a goalscoring striker.

Although Joelinton did thunder in a header for his second of the season on Saturday – both having come against Brentford – he has now been transformed into a dominant ball-winning midfielder with increasingly realistic international ambitions.

Joelinton's goals output had been questioned even before he signed for Newcastle, when he had often been playing in support of at least one other forward, so Bruce's decision to isolate him as a lone striker in a 5-4-1 formation was a slightly odd one – albeit the club's refusal to re-sign target man Salomon Rondon left him with little choice.

Joelinton averaged 3.5 touches in the opposition box, 1.7 shots and 0.18 expected goals (xG) per 90 in 2019-20, way down on Rondon's 4.8, 3.1 and 0.37 respectively the previous season.

The Brazilian was actually a greater threat – comparable to Rondon, perhaps explaining his signing – in a more withdrawn role at Hoffenheim (4.8 touches in the opposition box, 2.4 shots, 0.35 xG), although this spoke more to their front-foot approach both with and without the ball under Julian Nagelsmann, who described Joelinton as "an animal" and "a machine".

Joelinton was a key man in the Hoffenheim team that allowed only 10.3 opposition passes per defensive action (PPDA) – the second-lowest rate in the Bundesliga, meaning only Bayern Munich (10.0 PPDA) employed a more intense press. It figured then that he might struggle to adapt to Bruce's Newcastle, the most passive outfit in the Premier League (19.4 PPDA in 2019-20).

The £40m man is understandably far more at home under Howe. Newcastle's PPDA is 13.9 since his appointment on November 20 and 10.8 since Christmas Day, a period in which they are the Premier League’s only unbeaten team.

Joelinton, whose 41.9 pressures per 90 since November 20 rank seventh among Premier League players (minimum 1,000 minutes), would surely have looked better in a Howe side regardless of his position.

More than just pressing opponents, Joelinton has quickly honed his tackling skills since Ciaran Clark's early red card against Norwich City in Howe’s second home match prompted a change of shape that saw him moved into the heart of the midfield – that unorthodox 4-3-2 providing the blueprint for the now preferred 4-3-3.

Only Christian Norgaard (61) has made more tackles than Joelinton (50) since November 20 – a timeframe within which the Newcastle man leads the Premier League for duels contested (268) and duels won (130). Since the Magpies last lost, Tyrick Mitchell (37) and Norgaard (36) can top Joelinton's 32 tackles, but both have played three more matches.

"I'd be lying if I said I knew he was capable of that when I first started to work with him," Howe said last month of his defensive work.

Callum Wilson, Joelinton's strike partner before the shift in position, told The Footballers' Football Podcast: "He's been outstanding since he's made that transition into the midfield with a three. He looks like a totally different player. You've paid £40m for a striker, but really he probably isn't a number nine anyway; he was playing out wide in Germany and now he's inside a bit more. He's unreal, he's unplayable, to be honest, at the minute, and he's still so young as well."

Joelinton has been freed by the removal of the burden of goalscoring responsibility, but Howe insists he is still "an attacker who's playing an attacking midfield position at the moment".

From a deeper position, his task – after winning possession – is to drive Newcastle forward. Since November 20, Joelinton ranks eighth among central midfielders for yards carried upfield (929), while a dangerous blend of power and poise has him behind only Declan Rice (16) for carries with a take-on (15).

Of Joelinton's 158 total carries, 11 (7.0 per cent) have ended in either a shot or a chance created for a team-mate. Four midfielders have been involved in more shots following carries; five of those with 100 or more carries have seen a greater proportion end in this manner – including team-mate Joe Willock (8.0 per cent).

Even before the wider recent recognition of Joelinton's talents, he was a hugely popular player with his team-mates. When one Sky Sports reporter suggested the standard of his performance against Manchester United had come as a surprise, Sean Longstaff fired back: "To be honest, if you ask anyone in the dressing room, we know he's that good regardless of what the outside people say. I think the disrespect he gets is a disgrace.

"I can honestly say every day in training he's the best player. If he's on your team, you win. If you get Joe on your team, you're buzzing. He's in a slightly different position, but the way he's been since the new manager came in in games has shown how he's been over the last two years in training. Ask anyone at the club, everyone rates him so highly. I'm so, so happy for him. Like I said, some of the noise from outside, I think, is really disrespectful. If you actually watch us enough and know what you're watching, you realise how good he is."

Kieran Trippier – signed between that 1-1 draw and Newcastle's next match – soon learnt all about Joelinton, nominating him in an Instagram Q&A as the player who had surprised him most in training.

Meanwhile, one of the more recent social media tributes to Joelinton, following his goal at Brentford, saw Federico Fernandez congratulate Newcastle's "Felipe Melo".

Melo, who went to the 2010 World Cup with Brazil, scored eight headed goals in Europe's top five leagues, while he averaged 2.7 tackles per 90 (after detailed data became available in 2005-06) – a mark Joelinton has topped in nine of his 14 appearances for Howe.

In an August interview with UOL, former youth international Joelinton acknowledged representing Brazil, like Melo, was merely a "distant" dream. Playing as a striker, even that assessment seemed generous. But he added: "I'm in a big league, and I know if I do well here I'll get attention." As he keeps current Selecao midfielder Bruno Guimaraes out of the Newcastle team, Joelinton may be able to dream again.

Of his Premier League compatriots, Joelinton is most like Manchester United's Fred out of possession, matching his 3.8 tackles per 90 but trailing his 50.2 pressures. On the ball, meanwhile, the Newcastle man lags way behind Fred (60.8 and 51.5), Fabinho (58.1 and 50.5) and Douglas Luiz (47.9 and 41.1) for passes attempted (32.6) and completed (25.7). But none of that trio can come close to his 139.1 carry yards or 70.4 progressive carry yards. He would certainly bring a new dimension to the Brazil midfield.