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Joelinton Cássio Apolinário de Lira (born 14 August 1996) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or winger for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Brazil national team.
Starting his career with Sport Recife, Joelinton joined Hoffenheim in 2015, and was loaned to Rapid Wien for two years from 2016, before joining Newcastle United in 2019, where he was converted from a striker to a midfielder under the management of Eddie Howe. He has also been capped for the Brazil under-17 national team, and made his debut for the senior team in 2023.
In the 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A season, Joelinton made seven appearances towards the end of the campaign. He scored his first career goal on 23 November in a 2–2 home draw with Fluminense, and on the last day he scored the only goal against São Paulo after four minutes.
Joelinton established himself in the first team in the 2015 state league. However, he received two straight red cards in the second phase, against Santa Cruz and Náutico.
Joelinton played all ten of Rapid's 2016–17 UEFA Europa League matches, scoring in a 3–2 win over Genk on 15 September and a 1–1 draw with Athletic Bilbao at the Allianz Stadion on 8 December. On the domestic front in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, he recorded 8 goals in 33 games – including one to cap a 4–1 victory at Vienna derby FK Austria Wien on 7 August – but the Viennese club finished 5th of 10 teams and missed out on European football.
On 22 July 2017, the first game of the new season, Joelinton was sent off after 23 minutes in a 2–2 home draw with SV Mattersburg, for kicking back after being fouled by Michael Novak.
Joelinton scored his first Premier League goal on 25 August in a 1–0 victory away at Tottenham Hotspur. It took him until 14 January 2020 to score his second goal for the club, netting the final goal in a 4–1 FA Cup third round replay victory over Rochdale. He scored his first home league goal on 21 June in a 3–0 win over Sheffield United, ending a 2,130-minute drought. Joelinton scored two goals in 38 appearances for the club, of which six came from the bench in the 2019–20 season. In the 2020–21 season he doubled his tally to four goals, which came from 31 appearances of which eight were from the bench.
After Eddie Howe took over as Newcastle United manager during the 2021–22 season, Joelinton was moved from a forward to a box-to-box central midfielder, receiving praise from fans and pundits for his efforts and performances." 'Joelinton disrespect is a disgrace': How the new Newcastle midfielder won fans over ". BBC Sport. 27 December 2021. He was awarded the Newcastle United Player of the Year Award for the 2021–22 season.
On 11 April 2024, Joelinton signed a new long-term contract with Newcastle. On 17 March 2025, Joelinton started the 2–1 win in the 2025 EFL Cup final against Liverpool, his performance was described as "aggressive" and "intense".
Joelinton was arrested in the early hours of 12 January 2023 in Newcastle upon Tyne and charged with drink driving in his Mercedes G-Wagen. He pleaded guilty at Newcastle Magistrates Court two weeks later and received a 12-month driving ban, to be reduced to nine months in the event of rehabilitation. He was fined £29,000, in addition to a £2,000 surcharge and £85 costs.
Joelinton's home was broken into by three men in the later hours of 13 January 2024, while he was attending Newcastle United's home match over Manchester City.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition !rowspan="2" | Club !rowspan="2" | Season !colspan="3" | League !colspan="2" | National cup !colspan="2" | League cup !colspan="2" | Continental !colspan="2" | Other !colspan="2" | Total |
| Sport Recife | 2014 | Série A | 2 | |||||
| 2015 | Série A | 5 | ||||||
| TSG Hoffenheim | 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 0 | |||||
| 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 11 | ||||||
| Rapid Wien (loan) | 2016–17 | Austrian Bundesliga | 13 | |||||
| 2017–18 | Austrian Bundesliga | 8 | ||||||
| Newcastle United | 2019–20 | Premier League | 4 | |||||
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 6 | ||||||
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 4 | ||||||
| 2022–23 | Premier League | 8 | ||||||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 3 | ||||||
| 2024–25 | Premier League | 4 | ||||||
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals | |
| Brazil | 1 |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| + List of international goals scored by Joelinton ! No. !! Date !! Venue !! Cap !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition |
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Newcastle United
Individual
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