Eddie Howe has done a remarkable job at improving his players at Newcastle United.
Alexander Isak has gone from being a striker who netted just six goals in his final La Liga season to a 21-goal Premier League striker, while Miguel Almiron, for a time, was genuinely the best player in the Premier League for a few weeks.
Speaking on the BBC Match of the Day Top 10 Podcast, Alan Shearer has been naming his best XI of current Premier League players, and while he didn’t quite make the cut, Shearer put forward Joelinton as a suggestion, claiming that he’s been unbelievable over the past 18 months.
Joelinton has been unbelievable
Shearer spoke highly of the Brazilian.
“What about Joelinton? I tell you what, he’s been unbelievable, the past 18 months. He’s been awesome, he’s been fantastic he has,” Shearer said.
Joelinton has transformed
You never would’ve guessed that Shearer would’ve spoken about Joelinton in this way a few years ago.
Indeed, when Joelinton first signed, Shearer wasn’t so glowing about the striker,, claiming that he wasn’t a goalscorer and that he felt sorry for him.
“I actually feel sorry for Joelinton at times because he was given the number nine shirt, asked to play centre-forward and score goals. None of that is his fault. That’s not his position. I can never criticise his work rate in terms of what he tries to do,” Shearer said on The Overlap.
“He always tries, he never hides away, but he’s not a goalscorer. He’s not a number nine, and he’s not a centre-forward, yet, he was asked to do all of that? How do you work that out?”
Since then, Joelinton has moved away from being a striker into a midfield role, and he hasn’t looked back since.
The Brazilian has been incredible in the midfield, and now, there’s genuinely an argument to make that he’s one of the best in the Premier League.
Joelinton’s transformation over the past two years or so has been quite something.