Rob Lee feels Newcastle United now have a ‘£60-70m’ star on their hands in Joelinton. The Toon legend wholeheartedly believes the Brazilian looks ‘immense’ every game in midfield.
Newcastle supporters have witnessed Joelinton turn his career in black-and-white around since Eddie Howe took charge at St James’ Park. The 26-year-old had regularly come in for criticism for his work as a striker under Steve Bruce having cost the Magpies £40m in 2019.
The Tyneside outfit also awarded Joelinton the famed No9 jersey to join from Hoffenheim as Bruce’s first signing. He had only scored 11 and assisted nine goals over 35 games across all competitions for the Bundesliga outfit during the campaign prior to moving to England.
Joelinton would go on to score just 10 and assist eight goals over his 89 appearances under Bruce with Newcastle. He earned 68 of those outings as a centre-forward, plus 17 from the left wing and four from the right. Each of his goals and eight of his assists came as a striker.
Yet Howe has only used Joelinton as an out-and-out centre-forward on six occasions over 53 appearances under him so far. Instead, the Toon boss has fielded the Alianca-born star as a centralised midfielder on 35 occasions. He has also played 12 fixtures on the left wing.
Newcastle legend Rob Lee is in complete awe of Joelinton as a midfielder
Joelinton has returned Howe’s faith in him with seven goals and three assists ahead of the Carabao Cup final tie between Newcastle and Manchester United on Sunday. The Magpies also named the £86.5k-a-week star as their Player of the Year after the 2021/22 campaign.
Now, Newcastle legend Lee believes Howe has a midfielder worth ‘£60-70m’ on his hands by reviving Joelinton’s career. He also claims the Toon and Bruce did not help the Brazilian by giving him the club’s No9 shirt. Joelinton switched shirt numbers to seven in July 2021.
“Joelinton has been immense,” Lee told talkSPORT. “He has gone from being a £40m flop centre-forward to a £60-£70m midfielder. I just think he’s found the right position.
“I don’t know who thought he was a centre-forward – whether it was the club at the time that thought that – it was just a bad decision giving him the No9 shirt. It did him no favours whatsoever and you could see he was lacking in confidence.
“Everyone thought he was this Alan Shearer goalscoring centre-forward, which he never was. Now, he’s gone back into the midfield and every game, he looks immense. He’s big, powerful and scored a few goals, as well, which is what you want your midfielders to do.”
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