Hoffenheim striker and Wolves target Joelinton could move to England this summer, but it is another Premier League club that are favourites to land him.
The Daily Mail reported that Newcastle have revived their interest in the 22-year-old and are preparing to make a £36million offer for him.
Wolves had also been linked with the player, as reported by German publication Kicker [via Birmingham Live] recently.
However, the Daily Mail claimed that Wolves were not willing to meet Hoffenheim’s asking price of £40m, therefore reducing the likelihood of the Black Country outfit landing the Brazilian striker.
Joelinton has had a decent if unspectacular scoring record over the last three seasons. Last term, he netted 11 times in 35 games in all competitions for Hoffenheim.
In the previous two years on loan at Rapid Vienna, he managed 21 goals from 79 appearances. His record since 2016 stands at 32 goals from 114 games, averaging a goal every 3.56 matches.
While those figures are moderately impressive, they pale in comparison to Wolves’ first choice centre forward Raul Jimenez.
The Mexico striker rammed home 17 games in 44 appearances last season, which works out at one every 2.58 games. His Premier League tally of 13 goals was bettered by only two players from other clubs outside the top six (Jamie Vardy with 18 and Callum Wilson with 14).
The only other out-and-out centre forward to feature for Wolves in 2018/19 was Leo Bonatini, who made just seven Premier League appearances (all from the substitutes’ bench) and scored one Carabao Cup goal before being loaned out to Nottingham Forest.
While Jimenez’s excellent scoring record earned him a permanent move to Molineux, where he is likely to be first choice centre forward again next season, Joelinton would be an upgrade on the Mexico hitman in a couple of aspects of the game.
The Hoffenheim striker is noted for his dribbling ability by WhoScored.com, with an average of 1.9 dribbles per game exceeding Jimenez’s match average of 0.9. Joelinton is also better at retaining possession, his passing success rate of 79.3% notably better than Jimenez’s 72.8%.
Nuno’s preference for one central striker, along with Jimenez boasting a superior scoring record to Joelinton, suggests that the Mexico forward would have the edge on his Brazilian counterpart for the number nine role in Wolves’ starting XI if Joelinton moved to Molineux. Also, a fee in the region of £40m would be a lot for Wolves to pay for a player who couldn’t be guaranteed a regular starting berth.
However, with a dearth of striking options in Nuno’s squad, Joelinton is a player that Wolves could really have done with signing, and with Newcastle now seemingly having the edge, this looks like a missed opportunity for the Black Country side.
Wolves fans, how disappointed would you be to miss out on Joelinton? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
