“You can’t move him!” – Howe shares brilliant Joelinton story when discussing Brazilian “brick wall”

Eddie Howe has paid tribute to Joelinton after the Brazilian signed a long-term deal on Tyneside this week, discussing how he wowed him in early training sessions and his physical transformation.

Speaking to the media on Friday, the boss revealed how he was left “confused” by his previous struggles when the striker-turned-midfielder immediately wowed Howe during their first training session together.

He also discusses his change in stature, with it noticeable how the 27-year-old has bulked up from his arrival in 2019 to today. Howe described him as a “brick wall” in training. “You can’t move him!”, he said when speaking to Sky Sports’ Keith Downie. Watch what he had to say below, followed by his quotes in full:

“He’s taken the opportunity very well” 🤝

Eddie Howe on the progress that Newcastle midfielder Joelinton has made at the club 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/oz7DiAEcBS

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 12, 2024

“I always go back to my first training session with him. I genuinely thought after that first training session, ‘What a player he is’.

“That then led very quickly to me being confused about why his time here hadn’t been a success. You could tell straight away he was a player who was immensely talented, although obviously, I was aware coming in that it hadn’t gone well for him.”

“I’m not going to change history or pretend to be clever and say that I saw his transition to a midfielder initially. We stumbled upon that, and since then, he’s taken the opportunity to play in that position superbly well.

“He’s looked like a natural midfielder from the minute he stepped into that position. I know at previous clubs he had played in a deeper role, but that was more as a number one. This is a big positional change because the defensive aspect of being a midfielder is totally different to being a number ten.

“His defensive qualities have been as good as his attacking ones, and that’s why he’s the…

Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/04/12/you-cant-move-him-howe-shares-brilliant-joelinton-story-when-discussing-brazilian-brick-wall/

Author : Olly Hawkins

Publish date : 2024-04-12 12:35:38

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.