Joelinton's transformation from a stuttering striker to a marauding midfielder has been well-documented at Newcastle United. The Samba star has long been one of the first names on the team sheet since Eddie Howe discovered he was a man reborn when deployed in a deeper role than was initially attempted on Tyneside.
However, recent games have seen Joelinton start to find his feet in front of goal a mere four years of flattering to deceive in attack. The 26-year-old helped himself to Newcastle's second in the 6-1 drubbing of Tottenham Hotspur to continue his fine spell in front of goal.
The former Hoffenheim striker was responsible for the equaliser at Brentford, which unfairly went down as a David Raya own goal earlier this month. Joelinton also notched against West Ham a few days earlier in similar fashion to his St James' Park goal last Sunday.
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Both goals were products of fantastic Fabian Schar assists, with the Swiss defender playing a neat ball over the top of the opposition defence on both occasions. Joelinton has made a habit of looking to make those runs in behind whenever he sees Schar line up a defence-splitting pass from his own half.
Tottenham right-back Pedro Porro had no clue Joelinton had left him for dead on Sunday, with the Newcastle man producing a stellar first touch before calmly rounding Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to tap home into an empty net. Almost a carbon copy of Joelinton's well-taken goal at the London Stadium earlier this month.
The truth is; Joelinton probably would have fluffed his lines on both occasions in seasons gone by. The first touch would have let him down, the finish would have been rushed and any attempts to round the goalkeeper would have most likely resulted in a wasted opportunity.
Newcastle fans became accustomed to the player missing glaring chances during his early days in the Premier League and had all-but given up hope of seeing the terrace faithful enjoy a successful career as an attacker. That has all changed of late.
Howe has seemingly found a perfect role for Joelinton of late, deploying him out wide during Allan Saint-Maximin's absence. Not only one minute had passed on Sunday and the wide man was already driving at Tottenham defenders, cutting inside and blasting a shot towards goal - with Jacob Murphy smashing home the rebound.
“I'm struggling to rack my brains to think of a transformation like it," admitted Howe earlier this month. "But I'm so pleased for him and he deserves all the credit because he's really driven, motivated, keen to listen, learn, improve.
“He's never happy. He's one of the players who's last off the training pitch every day, he's really committed to his profession and I love to see people with all those characteristics then do well and succeed."
Joelinton's absence is now felt on the rare occasions he drops out of Howe's starting XI, whether that is in attack or midfield. The £40m man has excelled in any position this term and is finally starting to bask in his new-found confidence in front of goal.
Joelinton is now the type of attacker Newcastle thought they were signing back in 2019.
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