Newcastle United striker Joelinton has struggled to make an impact since arriving at Saint James Park last summer for a club-record £40 million, scoring just once in 29 Premier League appearances.
The Brazilian has come under criticism for his lack of finishing prowess in front of goal, and his future with the Magpies is under huge threat with the club expected to bring in a quality striker this summer once the prospective new owners take over.
Former Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United midfielder turned pundit Michael Brown has revealed that Newcastle legend Alan Shearer admits that Joelinton hasn’t been getting enough quality services to score goals.
“You have to look at the strikers at the football club,” Brown told Football Insider when asked if signing a centre-forward should be the priority for the Toons this summer.
“I was speaking to Alan Shearer and we both said you would expect more from the strikers but what kind of service are they getting?
“They play a very defensive set up. Sometimes we have been a bit unfair in criticising the top of the pitch at Newcastle.”
Joelinton can do very little in front of goal at a defensive side like Newcastle, and their inability to constantly create goalscoring chances definitely doesn’t do him any favour.
Nevertheless, the 23-year-old isn’t particularly a top quality finisher, with only 12 of his 42 attempted shots hitting the target.
Joelinton has missed seven big chances and hit the woodwork once, and is a type of striker that needs plenty of chances before scoring.
He has averaged around 1.4 chances per game, and that isn’t good enough.
Boss Steve Bruce has set up his side in a way best suited to the quality of squad, but it remains to be seen if Joelinton will impress under a different set-up, and it will be interesting to see what happens going forward.
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