Joelinton Cássio Apolinário de Lira (born 14 August 1996) is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or winger for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club Newcastle United and the Brazil national team. Starting his career with

Sport Recife Sport Club do Recife, (; known as Sport Recife or Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in the city of Recife, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently plays in Série B. In football, the club has w ...

, Joelinton joined

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentione ...

in 2015, and was loaned to

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

for two years from 2016, before joining Newcastle United in 2019, where he was converted from a striker to a

under the management of

Eddie Howe Edward John Frank Howe (born 29 November 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the head coach of Premier League club Newcastle United. A defender during his playing career, Howe spent most of his playing ...

. He has also been capped for the Brazil under-17 national team, and made his debut for the senior team in 2023.

Club career

Sport Recife

Born in Aliança,

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it List of Brazilian states by population, sev ...

, Joelinton joined

in 2012 and spent two years playing in the youth team. He was promoted to the senior squad in 2013, but it was not until March 2014 that he made his professional debut, in a Copa do Nordeste match against city rivals Santa Cruz. He came on as a 62nd-minute substitute for

Neto Baiano Euvaldo José de Aguiar Neto (born September 17, 1982, in Salvador, Bahia), known as Neto Baiano, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Brasiliense FC as a forward. His previous clubs include Paulista, Fortaleza, Atlético-PR, Palmeiras, Je ...

in the 2–1 away semi-final win (4–1 aggregate). Sport won the cup with a 3–1 aggregate win over Ceará in the final; Joelinton did not play. He was on the bench six times in the Campeonato Pernambucano season, which they also won. In the

2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 58th edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top-level of professional football in Brazil. Cruzeiro, the defending champions, won the title for the second time in a row and the fourth t ...

season, Joelinton made seven appearances towards the end of the campaign. He scored his first career goal on 23 November in a 2–2 home draw with

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

, and on the last day he scored the only goal against

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

after four minutes. Joelinton established himself in the first team in the 2015 state league. However, he received two straight red cards in the second phase, against Santa Cruz and Náutico.

1899 Hoffenheim

In June 2015,

1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 189 ...

signed Joelinton on a five-year contract. He played only once in his first season in Germany, as a last-minute substitute for

Jonathan Schmid Jonathan Schmid (born 22 June 1990) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder or right back for Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. Early and personal life Schmid was born in 1990 in Strasbourg to an Austrian f ...

in a 1–0 loss at

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

on 18 December.

Loan to Rapid Wien

On 23 June 2016, Joelinton was loaned to

for two years. He made his debut on 8 July in the first round of the Austrian Cup against Regionalliga Ost club FC Karabakh Wien, scoring the opening goal of a 3–1 victory. In the semi-finals on 26 April 2017, he scored an added-time winner at home to

LASK Linz Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional football club, from the Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Footbal ...

as ''Die Grün-Weißen'' reached the final for the first time in 12 years. He equalised in the final at the Worthersee Stadion on 1 June, but FC Red Bull Salzburg won 2–1. Joelinton played all ten of Rapid's 2016–17 UEFA Europa League matches, scoring in a 3–2 win over

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

on 15 September and a 1–1 draw with Athletic Bilbao at the

Allianz Stadion Allianz Stadion is a football stadium which is built on the site of the former Gerhard Hanappi Stadium as the new home of SK Rapid Wien. In international matches the stadium has the no-commercial name Weststadion. Demolition of the old stadium ...

on 8 December. On the domestic front in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, he recorded 8 goals in 33 games – including one to cap a 4–1 victory at city rivals

FK Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...

on 7 August – but the Viennese club finished 5th of 10 teams and missed out on European football. On 22 July 2017, the first game of the new season, Joelinton was sent off after 23 minutes in a 2–2 home draw with

SV Mattersburg SV Mattersburg was an Austrian association football club from Mattersburg, Burgenland. History The club was formed in 1922 and played its home games at the 17,100 capacity Pappelstadion. The club played in the Bundesliga since the 2003– ...

, for kicking back after being fouled by

Michael Novak Michael John Novak Jr. (September 9, 1933 – February 17, 2017) was an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than forty books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known ...

Return

On his return to Hoffenheim, Joelinton was given a first start in a

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

first-round match at

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in sev ...

, and scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 6–1 victory. He netted his first

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

goal on 22 September to open a 1–1 home draw with

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

, and as a substitute on 23 October he scored an added-time equaliser for a 3–3 draw against

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

in a Champions League group game at the

Rhein-Neckar-Arena Rhein-Neckar-Arena (), currently known as PreZero Arena and previously as Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Sinsheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is used mostly for football matches and hosts ...

Newcastle United

On 23 July 2019, Joelinton joined Newcastle United on a six-year deal for a reported club record fee of £40 million. He made his debut on 11 August, starting in their 1–0 home loss to Arsenal; he and teammate

Miguel Almirón Miguel Ángel Almirón Rejala (born 10 February 1994) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Paraguay national team. Almirón began his career a ...

were criticised by the club's all-time record scorer Alan Shearer for their performances. Joelinton scored his first Premier League goal on 25 August in a 1–0 victory away at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. It took him until 14 January 2020 to score his second goal for the club, netting the final goal in a 4–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Third round replay victory over

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. He scored his first home league goal on 21 June in a 3–0 win over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, ending a 2,130-minute drought. Joelinton scored two goals in 38 appearances for the club, of which six came from the bench in the 2019–20 season. In the 2020–21 season he doubled his tally to four goals, which came from 31 appearances of which eight were from the bench.

Moving to Midfield

After

took over as Newcastle United manager during the 2021–22 season, Joelinton was moved from a forward to a box-to-box

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, receiving praise from fans and pundits for his efforts and performances. He was awarded the Newcastle United Player of the Year Award for the 2021–22 season.

International career

Joelinton was capped four times by the Brazil national under-17 team in 2012, scoring two goals. On 28 May 2023, Joelinton received his first call-up to the senior team. He made his debut on 17 June, scoring the opening goal in a 4–1 win over Guinea.

Personal life

Joelinton has been in a relationship with Thays Gondim since 2015. The couple have two children together and announced in December 2022 they were expecting a third. In February 2023, Joelinton and Gondim held a

gender reveal party A gender reveal party is a party held during pregnancy to reveal the baby's sex to the expectant parents' family and friends, and sometimes to the parents themselves. Prenatal sex discernment technology furnishes the necessary information. Th ...

on the pitch at St James’ Park. On 25 June, the couple announced the arrival of their second son. Joelinton was arrested in the early hours of 12 January 2023 in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

and charged with drunk driving his Mercedes G-Wagen. He pleaded guilty at Newcastle Magistrates Court two weeks later and received a 12-month driving ban, to be reduced to nine months in the event of rehabilitation. He was fined £29,000, in addition to a £2,000 surcharge and £85 costs.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first.''

Honours

Sport Recife * Campeonato Pernambucano: 2014 * Copa do Nordeste:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Newcastle United * EFL Cup runner-up: 2022–23 Individual * Newcastle United Player of the Year: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the Newcastle United F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Joelinton 1996 births Living people Footballers from Pernambuco Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Sport Club do Recife players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players SK Rapid Wien players Newcastle United F.C. players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Bundesliga players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Premier League players Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany