Adrian Durham revealed he thought Joelinton had all the raw credentials to be decent for Newcastle United after joining the club.
The talkSPORT broadcaster shared that he thought the Magpies had taken a risk by signing the 22-year-old Brazilian as his goal rate didn’t look good, but then listed off several attributes he believes the forward possesses.
Durham stated that based on what he had seen, Joelinton was two-footed, good in the air, quick and had good movement.
“Joelinton has just come in, he’s a new signing at Newcastle United, he’s new to the Premier League, it’s a risk,” said Durham on talkSPORT (16:34, Wednesday, July 24th).
“His goal rate doesn’t look good, he’s two-footed, he’s good in the air, quick as well, his movement is good from what I’ve seen, he has the raw credentials to be decent, but whether he is going to be the real deal in terms of what Newcastle need in the Premier League, remains to be seen.”
OPINION
Durham’s verdict on Joelinton is fair even if it is just a result of him sitting on the fence. The broadcaster is confident that Joelinton has potential but is aware that it’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to succeed in the Premier League. Durham is also right to be concerned about the Brazilian’s goal-scoring record, particularly when analysing his 2018/19 campaign. Joelinton scored eight goals between the 33 appearances he made across the Bundesliga and Champions League, which means he averaged a goal every 316 minutes (Source: BBC Sport). With the 22-year-old on average scoring every 316 minutes, that is notably worse than Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon’s goal rate at the Magpies last season. The Venezuelan forward scored a goal every 218 minutes, while his Spanish teammate hit the back of the net every 229 minutes (Source: BBC). While Joelinton is younger than both them former Magpies so can clearly improve to hit the same heights of them, with the Magpies seemingly making him their main forward by handing him the No.9 shirt, he needs to get up to speed sooner rather than later.
