Joelinton nears agreement on new Newcastle United contract as recovery goes well – Report


 
 
 
 
 
 

Joelinton now has just under 16 months left on his contract.

The midfielder (formerly Steve Bruce striker…) signing a six year contract back in July 2019, that is due to end on 30 June 2025.

Unless a new deal is agreed of course.

Earlier this year, it was widely reported that the player and club remained far apart on wages, when trying to agree a new deal.

Late last month though, Eddie Howe once again emphasised just how important he sees Joelinton in his plans…

“That (a new contract / extension) has always been on my mind as an absolute priority, to try to get him to stay at the club long-term.

“I see that as hugely important.

“I think we’ve missed Joe’s qualities, especially physically – his robustness, his abilities in duels, set-plays for and against.

“We are very lucky to have a midfielder that’s as big as he is and as competitive as he is and whenever you lose those qualities, you notice when they’re not there.

“He’s a very unusual midfielder really, a prototype.

“You don’t get many like him and it’s certainly been missed, what he can bring.”

Eddie Howe was also asked towards the end of February, just who who be trying to get a new deal agreed with Joelinton and his representatives, now that Sporting Director is on gardening leave:

“I think it will be a mixture of [CEO] Darren Eales and probably Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi.”

Now on Monday (4 March 2024), The Telegraph are reporting that Newcastle United are getting close to agreeing a new deal with Joelinton.

They claim that ‘Amanda Staveley has taken charge of the negotiations’ and they also credit her as the one to have ‘persuaded Bruno Guimaraes to sign a new long-term deal’ earlier this season.

Well, I think it is simply a delicate balance.

You can never be 100 per cent sure but I think we can confidently say that both Bruno and Joelinton are happy at Newcastle United and wanted to stay, but at the same time, wanted / want to be paid what they believe they are worth.

At the same time, Newcastle United mindful that whilst revenues are significantly increasing, they also have to try and not let the wage bill go too high too soon. A report earlier today showed that Newcastle United have the seventh highest wage bill in the top tier, no prizes for guessing who the top six are in the Premier League. With the likes of Man U, Liverpool and Chelsea having wage bills that are around twice as big as Newcastle’s, even more so where Man City are concerned.

The Telegraph say that there has been real progress with Joelinton since Dan Ashworth started giving full attention to his garden, with Amanda Staveley the one leading in dealing with Joelinton’s representatives.

The newspaper says that their information via sources, is that Joelinton definitely wants to stay at Newcastle United and that his recovery after surgery is going really well and he is now expected to play again before the end of the season.

On Saturday, Joelinton returned to St James’ Park and was shown greeting Bruno and the other players in the tunnel before kick-off.

🥹🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/GZElkMiSTx

— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) March 2, 2024

Then the midfielder joined in for the post-match winning photo after the 3-0 win over Wolves.

The newspaper report states / claims that it is also Amanda Staveley who is taking the lead for Newcastle United in dealing with Man U, in terms of trying to agree an acceptable compensation package, that would allow Dan Ashworth to cut short his contractual period of gardening leave. The Telegraph claiming that Newcastle United want £2om but Manchester United trying to pay less.

As per widespread reporting and indeed as Sir Jim Ratcliffe has publicly indicated himself, Dan Ashworth could have to wait until 2026 before starting work at Old Trafford, unless Man U pay Newcastle United what they want.

If Man U agree to pay an acceptable amount of compensation, then today’s report says that whilst Newcastle won’t allow Ashworth to play any part in the summer 2024 transfer window, an agreement on compensation could allow him to start working at Old Trafford in late 2024.