Newcastle have a shot at Europe with Joelinton and Guimarães in midfield

Newcastle may be the richest football club in the game, but they have been relatively quiet in the transfer market this summer. Far from splashing the cash, they have only signed three senior players – bringing in goalkeeper Nick Pope from Burnley for £10m, signing centre-back Sven Botman from Lille for £31.9m, and making Matt Targett’s loan move from Aston Villa permanent.

For the most part, Eddie Howe is going with the same side he picked in the second half of last season. Pope displaced Martin Dubravka between the sticks for their opening game of the season against Nottingham Forest on Saturday but all 10 outfield starters were players who had been at the club last season. Dan Burn proved a superb addition at the heart of the defence in January and he kept his place, with new signing Botman left on the bench until the 90th minute. Considering Newcastle’s flying form in 2022 – only Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham have picked up more than their tally of 41 points this year – Howe thinks there is no need to fix something that isn’t broken.

A key element of Newcastle’s good form this year has been their dynamic Brazilian midfield duo, Joelinton and Bruno Guimarães. Joelinton’s redeployment as a midfielder and subsequent rejuvenation has been a huge success. After joining Newcastle from Hoffenheim as a forward in 2019, the Brazilian struggled as the lead man. He played in all 38 of Newcastle’s league games in his first season but only scored twice.

Fans only saw the best of the 25-year-old when he moved back into midfield. Joelinton is hardly prolific in front of goal – he only scored four goals in the league last season – but his influence on the team has magnified greatly. Since Howe took charge last November,