Fee – £40 million

Primary Position – Centre-Forward

Other position(s) – Second Striker / Right wing

Last season’s form– Games 28 / Goals 7 Assists 7

Hailing from the northeast of Brazil, Joelinton Cassio Apolinário de Lira started his career in the youth setup for Sport Recife in 2012 and made his professional debut in March 2014. After only 12 games for the Brazilian team, he was signed by Bundesliga side Hoffenheim in June 2015. He played only one game in his first season in the German top flight and was loaned to Austrian side Rapid Wien for two years. He featured in 60 matches for the Austrian side over two seasons, notching 15 goals and six assists. He returned to Hoffenheim on expiry of his loan deal and was a regular feature on the team sheet for the 2018/19 season, registering seven goals and seven assists across 28 appearances. At 1.86m, Joelinton offers an aerial threat for the Newcastle attack as well as serving as a target man in linking up play. Coming in at only 6.0m in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Newcastle’s record signing has donned the iconic no.9 jersey and given the departure of Rondon and Perez, is surely nailed on to start for the Geordies. Seven goals from 28 appearances is not a very impressive return but the same number of assists indicates the Brazilian offers more than just goal threat. Newcastle have a difficult fixture run to start the season with games against Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool in three of their first five fixtures so it is probably best to wait and see if the Brazilian can find his feet in the Premier League.

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