With a goal and an assist against Crystal Palace at the weekend, Newcastle United striker Joelinton finally got his first numbers in the Premier League this season.
The Brazilian, who joined the Magpies in the summer of 2019, continues to fight for his place in the team, and talked about his efforts in an interview with Yahoo Brasil today.
“I think that trust comes with the passage of time, with adaptation,” Joelinton told Yahoo.
“The first season was highly anticipated, and I knew how to deal with that well. The trend is to evolve every year and that is why I work daily.”
Due to the high price paid for his signing, Joelinton talked about the pressure which comes with being such a recruit.
“The biggest charge comes from myself so that I’m always evolving. I know that the striker lives from goals, and that my signing was surrounded by expectations, but I work very hard on a daily basis so that things happen in the best possible way on the pitch.”
And he claims to get great support from manager Steve Bruce to achieve bigger things at the club: “He’s been talking to me since we arrived at the club and he’s a great person. He gives me a lot of confidence, as well as everyone in the squad, and that makes us stronger.”
As he’s still to guarantee a place in the team, with the striker position being disputed with squad rivals, Joelinton explained: “We have great strikers in the squad, and the coach chooses to make this rotation in the attack. The group is very good, and the most important thing is that whoever is on the pitch should do the job to help the team to come out with the victories.”
On the big competition in the Premier League and the chances of getting a spot in European competitions, Joelinton takes it easy for now.
“Our intention is to go as far as possible, but we know the difficulties of the Premier League. I think we have to think game by game, with each victory, so that we can walk a good path in the competition and, in the end, pinch a spot in some European competition.
“I’m a guy who likes to think more day by day, game by game. My goal is always to score when I have the opportunity to help our team win. I have great career goals and I work daily so that I can reach them.”
Joelinton joined Newcastle United in a €44m deal from Hoffenheim in 2019. He has seven goals and six assists in 56 appearances for the Magpies so far.
