Newcastle’s record signing Joelinton has found himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons as he struggles to adapt to life in English football.
The Brazilian, a £40million summer capture from Hoffenheim, has managed just a single goal in his first 22 appearances for the club and cut a disconsolate figure as he drew another blank at League One Rochdale in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at other high-profile signings to have taken on the challenge of bringing goals to Newcastle in the Premier League era and how they have fared.
Alan Shearer scores his 201st goal for Newcastle against Portsmouth (Owen Humphreys/PA)
Andy Cole
Signed from: Bristol City, March 1993, £1.75million
Goals in first 22 games: 22
Total Newcastle goals: 69
Total Newcastle appearances: 85
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Cole announced himself in style on Tyneside with 22 goals in his first 22 games to help clinch promotion to the Premier League, and there was uproar when he was sold to Manchester United in January 1995 having taken his tally to 69 in less than two years.
Les Ferdinand
Signed from: QPR, July 1995, £6million
Goals in first 22 games: 19
Total Newcastle goals: 50
Total Newcastle appearances: 84
Still revered on Gallowgate for the goals he scored during a two-year stint at St James’ Park, Ferdinand was prolific from the off and his controversial departure for Tottenham in July 1997 left the Toon Army collectively scratching their heads once again.
Alan Shearer
Signed from: Blackburn, July 1996, £15million
Goals in first 22 games: 18
Total Newcastle goals: 206
Total Newcastle appearances: 404
The Magpies paid a then world record £15million to bring Geordie Shearer home and were richly rewarded with a decade of sterling service which saw him eclipse Jackie Milburn’s record tally of 200 goals for the club.
Michael Owen celebrates with Alan Shearer after scoring his first goal for the club against Blackburn (David Davies/PA)
Jon Dahl Tomasson
Signed from: Heerenveen, July 1997, £2.2million
Goals in first 22 games: 3
Total Newcastle goals: 4
Total Newcastle appearances: 34
A young Tomasson was thrown in at the deep end by then manager Kenny Dalglish after Shearer had suffered a serious ankle injury in pre-season and found the going tough, but went on to enjoy an impressive career with Feyenoord, AC Milan, Stuttgart and Villarreal as well as winning more than 100 caps for Denmark.
Michael Owen
Signed from: Real Madrid, August 2005, £16million
Goals in first 22 games: 10
Total Newcastle goals: 30
Total Newcastle appearances: 79
Newcastle thought they had staged a major coup when they lured England striker Owen back to the Premier League – he had hoped to return to former club Liverpool – but two serious injuries severely limited his impact during an ill-fated four-year stay.
Obafemi Martins
Signed from: Inter Milan, August 2006, £10million
Goals in first 22 games: 9
Total Newcastle goals: 35
Total Newcastle appearances: 104
Nigeria international Martins was given his chance by Glenn Roeder as the Magpies attempted to find a long-term replacement for the retired Shearer and made a fist of a difficult job before leaving for Wolfsburg after three seasons.
Cisse enjoyed a spectacular introduction to English football as he plundered 13 goals, including an astonishing strike at Chelsea, in his first 14 appearances for the club, although his influence gradually waned.
Aleksandar Mitrovic
Signed from: Anderlecht, July 2015, £14.5million
Goals in first 22 games: 4
Total Newcastle goals: 17
Total Newcastle appearances: 72
A fans’ favourite from the start, Serbia international Mitrovic was never able to persuade Steve McClaren’s successor Rafael Benitez that he could do a job for him, but was still sold to Fulham for a significant profit in July 2018.
Miguel Almiron
Signed from: Atlanta United, January 2019, £21million
Goals in first 22 games: 0
Total Newcastle goals: 2
Total Newcastle appearances: 31
Benitez was allowed to smash the club’s transfer record to bring Almiron to the Premier League from Major League Soccer but, despite a series of enterprising displays, he did not break his duck until his 27th appearance for the club.
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