Newcastle United lost many of its established veterans this summer, with Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon all departing before Eddie Howe also stepped down as head coach.
New manager Matthias Jaissle is now trying to rebuild that leadership structure, but one of his remaining senior players will be unavailable when Newcastle begins its Premier League campaign against Liverpool on Aug. 23.
Jaissle announced after Saturday’s 2-1 preseason defeat to Bayer Leverkusen that midfielder Joelinton
has suffered an unspecified injury and is expected to miss at least the opening weeks of the season.
“Now with Joelinton, who’s unfortunately injured, he will be missing a couple of weeks as it looks right now,” Jaissle said. “This is something we need to solve as soon as possible.”
Asked for further information about the problem, Jaissle confirmed the midfielder will definitely be sidelined initially.
“Well, he will miss for sure the first weeks, but all details will (follow),” Jaissle said.
Most importantly, the injury will definitely complicate Joelinton’s preferred summer exit. The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope previously reported that the Brazilian had informed Newcastle after last season that he wanted to move to Saudi Arabia, while The Guardian’s Louise Taylor later added that Newcastle could be receptive to an offer from the Middle East.
No such offer has yet been reported, and an injury expected to keep Joelinton sidelined for multiple weeks adds another potential obstacle with the Sept. 1 deadline approaching and Newcastle now likely missing on cashing in on the sale of one of their highest-value players.
Against that backdrop, and perhaps knowing selling Joelinton is now unlikely, Jaissle gave a strong indication that Newcastle is already planning around Joelinton by confirming the 30-year-old as vice-captain behind newly appointed skipper Dan Burn.
“We made the decision [on Friday] and we announced that internally that Dan Burn is the captain representing the team and the club and Joelinton is the vice-captain,” Jaissle said.
Whether that appointment effectively ends his hopes of moving to Saudi Arabia cannot yet be known, with the transfer window over there spanning through Sept. 6. For now, however, Joelinton enters the season as Newcastle’s vice-captain — and temporarily on the sidelines.
Do you think the vice-captaincy means Newcastle has decided to keep Joelinton, or would you still sell if an offer from Saudi Arabia arrives? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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