Football is littered with players who are just crushed by the expectation that a giant price tag brings, with Joelinton providing the perfect example at Newcastle.
The thing about the Brazilian striker is he was never actually prolific before he made the move. His best goal return in a season was eight in thirty-three games in the Austrian Bundesliga, so it’s nuts to think Newcastle decided to splash £40m on him.
He always looked dangerous with his pace and ability to run with the ball but that price tag demands plenty of goals, and he’s just not been able to deliver that at all.
He only managed two in thirty-eight games last year, but at least his ratio this year of one in nine is more impressive this time round after he scored against Palace tonight:
Goal-linton!
The Brazilian adds a goal to his assist to wrap up a huge away win for @NUFC#CRYNEW #PLonPrime pic.twitter.com/1JxMFs18hB
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) November 27, 2020
Pictures from RMC Sport
There’s two ways of looking at this goal – you can admire the run and skill to engineer the position to shoot, although he gets a massive slice of luck as his poor effort is deflected past the keeper and trundles over the line.
Perhaps this will give him the confidence to kick on and do better in the next few weeks, but at least it’s a nice moment for the striker as Newcastle move above Man City, Man United and Arsenal as they move into tenth.