Joelinton makes goals vow to mega-money signing Nick Woltemade as Brazil star lays out ambitious targets for Newcastle team-mates this season

There has been great upheaval at St James’ Park over the past few months, with star striker Alexander Isak heading to Premier League rivals Liverpool following a protracted transfer saga, and a raft of new faces have arrived. But while the results have been mixed, the players are behind each other, with Joelinton throwing his full support behind Woltemade, who arrived on deadline day in a £69 million ($92.7m) from Stuttgart. 

Speaking ahead of the clash with Brighton, Joelinton told ChronicleLive: "There can be a pressure. I had pressure when I played as No 9 to bring good performances and help the team. I don't have the No 9 any more but I still have pressure to try to help my team-mates and create. Everybody has the pressure, you just have to try to do well and create as many chances as you can. We will be looking to do that for Nick Woltemade and give him the best opportunity to score goals. That responsibility lies with everyone and we are close to this and hopefully Nick will score more and more."

Newcastle’s season has been marked by a turbulent summer and a challenging start across all competitions. The club faced a difficult period with the controversial departure of star striker Isak for £125m ($167.4m), a move which sparked considerable fan unrest. Despite securing several new signings, including Anthony Elanga, Malick Thiaw, and Woltemade, some key transfer targets were reportedly missed, causing frustration among supporters. Newcastle began the defence of their League Cup title with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Bradford City in the third round and they are set to face Tottenham at home in the fourth round of the FA Cup in January. And the Magpies have experienced mixed results in the Champions League so far, including a dominant 4-0 away victory against Union SG and a 2-1 home defeat by Barcelona, while in the Premier League they have endured a difficult start, they sit in 11th, with just nine points from seven matches. 

The season is still in its infancy, with Newcastle still fighting for silverware on all four fronts. And Joelinton is clear in what the club’s target should be, he told ChronicleLive: "We always try to learn, and we have in the last two years. Even if we suffer a defeat, we learn and take something from that. With wins, it is the same. This team has grown from two years ago, and we are a much better team now. The starting team has always been good, but we know we have the quality in the squad, and the experience. The club is going the right way, but we have a long way to go still. We are working on that and trying our best every game, every season to make this team grow. It is very important that we get through to the knockout stages of the Champions League this season. We want to make the club bigger, and we know we can achieve that and win more titles."