WHEN Joelinton misplaced a five-yard pass to Matty Longstaff in the latter stages of last weekend’s FA Cup third-round tie at Rochdale, he unwittingly sparked the move that resulted in Newcastle United’s League One opponents claiming the goal that earned them a replay on Tyneside. Time will tell, but there is a good chance the fall-out from the incident will not end there.

As well as conceding possession, Joelinton’s sloppy square ball could come to be remembered as the moment at which his position at St James’ Park became impossible to salvage. Jeered by his own supporters, and subjected to chants questioning his right to wear the number nine shirt, the Brazilian looked crestfallen as he trudged from the Spotland pitch.

“Hopefully, he didn’t understand the chants,” mused Steve Bruce, yet the Newcastle boss must know that is unlikely. Boos and mockery translate fairly easily into Portuguese.

How do Newcastle solve a problem like Joelinton, the £40m striker who isn’t really a natural centre-forward but doesn’t appear to be anything else either at the moment? Bruce has tried keeping him in the firing line, but that hasn’t really worked. He left him out of the team at Sheffield United, but his comeback appearance against Southampton was no better.

He’s played him in a wider position on the left, but that has tended to leave the rest of Newcastle’s team unbalanced and relies on the fitness of Andy Carroll.

Bruce has tried to smooth the 23-year-old’s integration into English life by encouraging him to bring his family over from his native Brazil and pushing him towards the squad’s Spanish speakers, who can converse with him without having to rely on his broken English. All to no avail.

So, as he prepares for this afternoon’s game at Wolves, the Newcastle boss appears to be sticking to the plan he has adopted so far this season. Play Joelinton in his starting side, talk up the club-record signing in public, and desperately keep his fingers crossed that something will click to spark an improvement.

“We have to keep persevering,” said Bruce. “We have to keep working and trying to get him through it. He’s young, and we know that for a centre-forward, having that number nine on your back is a a big burden to carry.

“But we keep working away. The good thing with Jo is he trains every day and wants to learn, I’m convinced of that, but it’s tough for him at the moment. The only thing is to put your head down and keep working away.

“We could all visibly see (he was upset) when he missed a chance (at Rochdale), but we all know there is something there - we saw that when he took the chance at Tottenham. He’s still young, the same age as Sean (Longstaff) and everyone calls him a youngster. So, we have to keep persevering.”

Perhaps Joelinton’s struggles are an inevitable failing of Newcastle’s long-standing transfer policy, which prioritises the purchase of inexperienced youngsters from overseas. Surely, it is no coincidence that the likes of Florian Thauvin, Moussa Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum have all struggled with the Magpies before going on to enjoy notable success elsewhere.

That said, however, Joelinton is not the only high-profile striking acquisition to have struggled to establish himself in the Premier League this season. Sebastien Haller, a £45m acquisition, has not made much of an impact at West Ham, while Wesley Moraes, signed for £22m, managed just five league goals for Aston Villa before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

Newcastle (5-2-3): Dubravka; Krafth, Lejeune, Fernandez, Dummett, Willems; Hayden, S Longstaff; Almiron, Carroll, Joelinton.