Paul Ince claimed that Newcastle United attacker Joelinton was not working out for the club before changing his mind mid-sentence.
The former Premier League midfielder shared that it was unfortunate that the money spent on signing Joelinton in the summer wasn’t paying off, before suggesting he had been too harsh on the forward as he has been a good “target” for the club.
Ince then made clear that what Joelinton needed to do was start scoring goals.
“Unfortunately the money they spent on Joelinton is not working, well I wouldn’t say not working, he’s a good target, but he needs to be scoring goals,” said Ince on Football Centre (Sky Sports, Friday, November 22nd, 10:54am).
OPINION
To say Joelinton is not working for the Magpies would have been horribly harsh on the attacker and it seems Ince realised that. While the Brazilian was signed to boost the Magpies’ firepower by scoring goals, just because he hasn’t been prolific, doesn’t mean he hasn’t impressed. The 23-year-old has racked up one goal and one assist in his first 12 league outings for the club and has been a useful part of the club’s attack. Joelinton has averaged one key pass per game and may have more assists if his teammates were better in front of goal. The 23-year-old has also notably won 5.2 aerial duels per game, as per WhoScored, which highlights Ince’s point that the Brazilian is a good target man as he is able to win the ball when it’s booted towards him, he just needs someone to make the most of him being powerful in the air. For example, with Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron being so pacey, the attacking duo should be looking to run on to the balls that Joelinton hopefully can knock into their path. While it would be nice to see Joelinton rack up more goals, he is pulling his weight regardless.
