Joelinton invited a Newcastle United fan to his house after seeing 'daft' tattoo online
Joelinton invited a Newcastle United fan to his house after seeing he'd got a tattoo of the midfielder on his stomach.
The 26-year-old has turned his Magpies career around over the last 12 months, transforming from a £40 million flop to cult hero.
He started his career at St. James' Park as a striker, but manager Eddie Howe decided to try him as a box-to-box midfielder in late 2021 and it's brought great success.
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Kevin Taylor from Forest Hall was so impressed by Joelinton's performances last season he decided to get the former Hoffenheim man permanently inked on his body.
Joelinton now has a place alongside Toon icon Alan Shearer as well as fellow Brazilian and teammate Bruno Guimaraes.
"I had my Toon badge done when I was a young," Kevin told Chronicle Live. "Then I got lots of other Newcastle stuff, too. One day I thought 'stuff it' and I got the rest.
"I wanted Joelinton first - I love how he fights for everything. He had a poor time at the start and he's had the best turnaround you'll ever see. But the tattooist said he wanted to do Shearer. I had room for one more after those two so I got Bruno as well."
Kevin got the tattoo in May, after a campaign which didn't see Newcastle register their first win until December.
Relegation was a serious threat until they were taken over by a Saudi-led consortium and Howe replaced Steve Bruce in the dugout.
Media outlets in Brazil picked up on Kevin's tattoo and offered to help him get in contact with Joelinton, but the dad of five thought it was all a laugh.
He continued: "I didn't think it was him. He gave me his address and I thought… surely not? My partner drove us there and on the way she was saying 'it's not gonna be him, we've been set up here!'
"But when we arrived, he popped his head out the door and I was like 'wow, it’s actually him'. We got the bairns out of the car and we’re having a bit craic on. All of a sudden, he gets the balls out of the car and starts playing football with the kids.
"My eldest son was playing football with his son - it was really canny. We were there for a good hour. We were talking about the game on Sunday and asking about each other’s families."
Joelinton is close with Guimaraes and despite missing a face-to-face meeting with the 24-year-old, Kevin still managed to get a chat with him too.
"Bruno had actually retweeted the tattoo of himself," he added. "When I showed Joelinton, he said 'you have Bruno as well? He is meant to be here!'
"So Joelinton FaceTimed Bruno and we were talking and laughing. I couldn't believe it. Me and the missus were saying on the way home this will never, ever, ever happen again."
Newcastle are currently fifth in the Premier League after winning their season opener against Nottingham Forest 2-0, before drawing 0-0 away to Brighton last weekend.
Topics: Newcastle United, Premier League
Daniel Marland