Joelinton Cássio Apolinário de Lira was born on 14 August 1996 in Aliança, Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil. He came through the academy of Sport Recife before joining Hoffenheim's youth setup in 2015, and after loan spells at Rapid Vienna he broke through into Hoffenheim's senior side in 2018-19 with 11 Bundesliga goals.
Newcastle United signed him in July 2019 for a then club-record fee of around £40 million, intending him to be a centre-forward. His first two seasons as a number nine were difficult and he became a target of supporter frustration. Everything changed under Eddie Howe in 2021-22, when Joelinton was reinvented as a powerful left-sided central midfielder, and the move turned him into one of the Premier League's most physically dominant midfielders.
He helped Newcastle reach the 2023 Carabao Cup final and qualify for the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League, and remains a senior figure in Howe's midfield trio alongside Bruno Guimarães and Sandro Tonali. He won the club's Player of the Season award in 2022-23 and has been a Premier League fixture since the role change.
For Brazil he debuted in 2022 — five years after his junior career — and has been a regular in midfield under both Tite and Dorival Júnior. He featured at the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa América and remains an option as either a press-resistant 8 or a more advanced 10.
Standing 1.86 m and powerfully built, Joelinton is a left-footed midfielder whose blend of physicality, ball-carrying and arrival in the box gives him a profile comparable to a young Yaya Touré or a more disciplined Naby Keïta. He is one of the Premier League's most underrated all-action midfielders since his positional switch.