Newcastle United star was ‘laughing stock’, now ‘one of the best players in the Premier League’ claims pundit

It’s a massive night on Merseyside as Newcastle United travel to Everton looking to strengthen their grip on third place while the hosts are battling relegation.

The BT Sport cameras are at Goodison Park and the pundits are there to offer their analysis including former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Newcastle United forward Michael Owen who has been full of praise for Eddie Howe and also singled out one player for their improvement under the ex-Bournemouth boss.

Owen was discussing United’s incredible 6-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in their last outing but also on how his old side have performed overall this season. He said: “They’ve just looked great form back to front, this season they’ve been absolutely brilliant. A lot has been said about Eddie How and the signings he has made and he has hardly missed with any of those signings, but, do you know what? He’s improved all the players that were at the club. He has just done an unbelievable job.”

The player who he singled out in particular was Joelinton and Owen didn’t hold back in what he thought about the Brazilian, who has been a revelation for the Magpies this campaign. He said: “They were devastating against Spurs at the weeknd. Murphy scored a couple, obviously Isak scored a couple but Joelinton was a laughing stock a couple of seasons ago and now he’s one of the best players in the Premier League. He’s just done an incredible job, these players are all outperforming at the moment and they fully deserve to be third in the league.”

Joelinton joined Newcastle United for a club record fee of £40 million in 2019 from German club Hoffenheim having scored 11 goals in 25 appearances the previous season. The forward was severely underwhelming during the early stages of his career at St James’ Park and was well on track to being one of the Premier League’s biggest flops. However, under Eddie Howe the 26-year old has dropped into a midfield role and has been hugely impressive and a pivotal part of the team’s success on the pitch so far this season.