Joelinton will not feature in Hoffenheim’s pre-season friendly clash against Jahn Regensburg on Wednesday amid ongoing negotiations with Newcastle United, according to Kicker.
The German magazine claims that talks between the Magpies and Joelinton have intensified and a £36.2million switch to St James’ Park is now on the cards for the 22-year-old after Steve Bruce’s appointment as manager was confirmed.
Dwight Gayle and Yoshinori Muto are currently the only strikers at Newcastle after Salomon Rondon’s loan expired and Joselu joined Alaves on a permanent deal this week.
OPINION
Now that Newcastle have confirmed the appointment of Bruce, one positive is that the club can finally kick on with transfer business because as it stands, they’re the only Premier League team to not sign a single player this summer. Joelinton is a good young striker who could do well at St James’ Park. The 6ft 1 [transfermarkt] Brazilian scored 11 goals and supplied nine assists in 35 appearances across all competitions for Hoffenheim last term. He hit the back of the net against teams like Borussia Dortmund, Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga while Lyon were one of his victims in the Champions League. Newcastle fans might be sceptical about that £36.2million fee. Mike Ashley is not known for splashing the cash on transfers and unless Joelinton is available for much cheaper, supporters aren’t going to be convinced that this is a deal that will happen,
