Joelinton’s first year at Newcastle United was a season to forget.
The Brazilian joined Newcastle at an incredibly difficult time. He arrived shortly after Steve Bruce replaced Rafa Benitez and a prospective takeover was called off.
On top of that, he became the club’s record signing at £40million and was handed the prestigious number nine shirt.
The odds were stacked on Joelinton, and he crumbled under the pressure.
He led the line on his own under Bruce, an often isolated figure up top who never looked like being a consistent goalscorer in the Premier League.
There was no sign of progression in the first six months, suggesting Newcastle had completely wasted £40million.
Joelinton was often jeered by supporters, who couldn’t believe what they were witnessing from their new record signing. An FA Cup draw with Rochdale in January 2020 saw him booed by his own fans – a low moment in his debut season.
And according to The i, Newcastle made efforts to protect Joelinton after that game. The club reportedly pleaded with the local media to ‘help protect the striker’.
Joelinton has bounced back after an awful first season at Newcastle
It says a lot about how toxic the situation was with Joelinton that the club felt they needed to intervene and save him from media scrutiny.
Things would get even tougher, with the global pandemic leading to a lockdown. That was hard for a lot of people, but it must have been incredibly testing for a young man in a foreign country during a difficult period in his career.
Fast forward to 2022, and Joelinton is a new man. He’s gone from failing striker to box-to-box midfielder, and is now a key player for Eddie Howe.
He’s adored by fans too, who chant his name time and time again.
The emergence of Joelinton since Howe became manager has been sensational. For a long time it looked like he was a lost cause.
But Howe has completely turned his fortunes around, and there are no club pleas to protect the Samba star.
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