Newcastle United have had quite a history with South American footballers. From George Robledo forming a partnership with club legend Jackie Milburn in 1949, to Jonas Gutierrez’s heroic relegation-escaping goal in 2015, there have been plenty of memorable moments and players from that part of the globe to adorn the famous black and white stripes.

There is a certain romanticism that is associated with South American players. Be it the dribbling wizards of Argentina, the passionate Peruvians, or the ‘garra charrua’ fighters of Uruguay, signings from the region always generate a buzz.

Jonas Gutierrez would never have to buy a pint in Newcastle again. Asprilla is fondly remembered and can be seen bantering with Shearer on twitter. Solano likely boosted trumpet sales in the North-East region, and Coloccini has the pick of any Geordie woman he desires – a point re-affirmed by 52,000 Geordies in the terraces during his time there.

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What of the Brazilians? Cacapa, Fumaca, Mirandinha, and Kenedy. The list is small. Their time at Newcastle was less samba football and more a tale of inconsistency and underachievement. For the most part, the price tags were moderate. Kenedy in particular, was a try before you buy player, and despite starting strong, faded from a potential £30m signing to a player Newcastle fans couldn’t wait to be rid of.

Joelinton bucks the trend completely. Newcastle throwing caution to the wind and splashing a club record £40m on a striker who’s best career goal tally to date was 7 goals. With 1 goal in 22 league appearances so far and a host of underwhelming displays, it’s safe to say the pressure is very much on the Aliança-born forward.

The Statistics – How does the forward compare so far against his last season at Hoffenheim?

19/20 Newcastle United

Aerial Duels Won per 90 Mins Assists Shots per 90 Chances Created Goals XG 5.9 1692 2 1.7 22 1 3.24

18/19 Hoffenheim

Aerial Duels won per 90 Mins Assists Shots per 90 Chances Created Goals XG 2.7 2136 5 2.35 43 7 8.93

While stats never tell the whole story, the numbers above make for some interesting reading. Notably, the difference in aerial duels won per 90 reveal a lot about the role he is being asked to play. Under Nagelsmann, he was in a possession focused side, and was able to receive the ball to feet quite often, with runners alongside him as well as a permanent strike partner. At Newcastle, he has been shoe-horned into a target man role he is ill suited for, taking over from Salomon Rondon, who was supremely adept in that department.

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Joelinton is often having to drop deep, looking to trap long balls from the centre backs and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. Bruce has not managed to create a cohesive front 3, and the Brazilian often looks isolated when receiving these passes, with little chance to combine.

Despite that, the chances created numbers are encouraging. If he carries on in the same vein, he should match, or potentially exceed the Hoffenheim numbers, in a much worse side. He shows signs of quite intelligent play, often picking out the one option available to him.

Where he can’t be absolved of blame, however, is the shooting department. While the shots per game numbers can be explained by the quality difference between Hoffenheim and Newcastle, the lack of conviction in the shots he takes is a problem. Newcastle are a side that create very few clear cut chances. When they are created, they need to be put away, and the ex-Sporting Recife man has not done his duty in that respect. He is showing a pattern in underperforming his xG numbers, and while that is common in young forwards, the signs that he will turn that around are not showing as yet.

The £40m price tag will dominate the punditry and newspaper columns, but Joelinton needs to ignore the noise. That £20m of the total fee was paid directly by Ashley was more to do with some weird power play against Rafa Benitez. Everyone knows that is not his true value, but his value to the team is something he is in control of. If he turns his form around, the fans won’t care if he was 40 million or 40 pounds and a freddo.

The last line of defence for the record signing is that any striker would look bad in this Newcastle United team. The brand of football has gone from defensive and organised under Rafa, to just about inferior in every attacking and defensive metric there is under Bruce. They can’t keep the ball, they can’t press effectively, and the defensive organisation has seen a total breakdown in several games. A striker can only do so much.

At the moment, Joelinton is failing at Newcastle United. But in the context of the decisions of the hierarchy, and the tactical ineptitude of the current boss, it is clear that he is being set up to fail. He needs a strike partner, and should not be assigned target man duties.

Football is a fickle sport, however, and Joelinton only has to look to team-mate Miguel Almiron to see how quickly fan opinion can turn around. If he ever finds his scoring touch, who knows, maybe the toon army will have their first cult hero Brazilian.

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