The agonising £40m transfer sacrifice looming large over Newcastle United

It would appear that Joelinton is just as combative at the negotiating table as he is in the centre of midfield. The powerful Brazilian, a fascinating illustration of a leopard with the capability to change its spots, is allegedly embroiled in something of a contract impasse with Newcastle United, so much so that the Daily Mail claim he may well have played his final game for the Magpies. That thud you just heard was the sound of Geordie jaws everywhere hitting the floor.

But before we get into the guts of it all, let us backtrack a touch. When Joelinton signed for Newcastle from Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim in 2019, the common consensus was that he was about as much use as a congested sniffer dog. Ostensibly a striker, the feeling on Tyneside was that Mike Ashley would have been better off taking the £40 million he uncharacteristically forked out for the South American and investing that money in a line of Sports Direct mugs made entirely out of chocolate.

Redemption adores a jump scare, though. Through a pain-staking process of mashing square pegs into round holes, it soon became apparent that Joelinton was in fact a very fine central midfield workhorse. Physically imposing and fearless, perceptions of him swiftly changed from 'donkey' to 'mulish', and Toon affections blossomed accordingly. Whether hurtling around the engine room like a ricocheting bullet or shunted out to the flank, Joelinton has established himself as a darling of the Gallowgate.

How alien it is, therefore, to consider the prospect of his sudden departure. At the time of writing, the 27-year-old is sidelined with a thigh injury sustained earlier this month during the Tyne-Wear Derby. The Brazilian is expected to undergo surgery on the complaint next week, and there is a very real possibility that he might not play again this season.

Contemporaneously, as per Mail reporter Craig Hope, Joelinton and his representatives are bogged down in a Sisyphean quagmire of messy contract talks with Newcastle to which there appears to be no obvious solution or compromise. With just 18 months left to run on his current deal in the North East, an extension is high on the club's list of priorities, but the midfielder's demands are said to be far too excessive. Specifics are not given, but it is claimed that Joelinton's proposal would make him the highest-paid player at St. James' Park. You can understand why Newcastle are reluctant to acquiesce.

And if things continue down the path they are on presently, it may well be the case that the Magpies are forced to sell their Samba enforcer in the coming months. That, of course, would be both a last resort and a crying shame, but the club simply cannot afford to be held to ransom.

Despite their well-documented status as the richest team in world football, Newcastle are having to exercise a decent amount of frugality in their rise to footballing high society. Financial Fair Play is a factor, and a significant one at that, but so is the need to set and maintain precedents. There have been junctures already at which it would have been quite easy for the Toon's Saudi owners to dip their paws into the infinite oily honeypot of their Public Investment Fund to make some fiscal inconvenience or other vanish into the proverbial ether. And yet, they have largely showed restraint.

This is yet another example of one such fork in the road. You would imagine that if they so desired, the Magpies could simply give Joelinton whatever he wants. But then, what is stopping Bruno Guimaraes from making similarly exorbitant demands? Or Alexander Isak? Or Sven Botman? In that scenario, the top of the wage bill keeps alternating and rotating, avarice in flux, and the bottom line keeps getting fatter and fatter. It's like Trigger's Broom with a bunch of twenty-something multi-millionaires.

That's not to say that Newcastle shouldn't do their utmost, within reason, to hang on to Joelinton, or that he isn't deserving of a pay rise that reflects his importance to Eddie Howe's side. But boundaries have to be drawn somewhere, even if it means making agonising sacrifices in the process.