When Joelinton arrived at Newcastle United from Hoffenheim in a club-record £40 million deal, many Magpies fans were delighted, despite knowing little about the Brazilian.
However, after delving into the player’s background, the excitement soon turned to apprehension, purely based on his goalscoring record.
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Joelinton has replaced the void left by star loanee Salomon Rondon, however, he has scored just 25 league goals for a variety of clubs over the past five seasons.
The 22-year-old’s best goalscoring return in the league was with Rapid Vienna, scoring eight times in the 2016/17 campaign.
The striker has already scored two goals in three pre-season appearances for the Magpies, so Newcastle supporters have the right to be expecting a career-best return from their main forward.
He’ll also have both Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron regularly creating goalscoring opportunities for him, and the way he starts in the Premier League could be key to Newcastle’s season.
On paper, an opening encounter against Arsenal is a fixture many would be worried about. However, Joelinton has the chance to thrive against a shakey Gunners defence, and finding the back of the net on his home competitive debut could set the tone for the next nine months.
Anything over 10 goals in his maiden Premier League campaign should be viewed as a success – and finally breaking the double-figure barrier could prove to be the catalyst for further impressive seasons at St James’ Park.
