Joelinton was “shaken up” after his house was broken into for the second time this year and Eddie Howe has had “several conversations” with the Brazilian about his situation and the safety of his family.
Last week in a social-media post, the 28-year-old said that his house had been targeted once more and pleaded that it be “respected as a safe place” for his family. The initial incident took place in January during Newcastle United’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester City.
In April, Joelinton signed a long-term contract extension to remain at St James’ Park. However, in his Instagram post, Joelinton said: “What we care about most is our family’s safety and our kids growing up without fear. We simply want to live in peace.”
Newcastle spent part of the two-week international break in Saudi Arabia at a warm-weather training camp and Howe and the club have sought to reassure Joelinton.
“Joe is fine, obviously shaken up initially,” Howe said at his press conference ahead of Newcastle’s Premier League matches with Eddie Howe on Monday night. “I’ve had several conversations with him about his situation and his family and his family’s well-being, which is of course the priority.
“Very sad really to see that happen to him again. Once is bad enough to see him in that situation, again, the same property, same outcome. I felt really sorry for him and we’re obviously, as a football club, helping him through this process and doing everything we can to ensure the safety of himself and his family and his possessions.”
What’s more, Howe admitted that Newcastle are conscious of what appears to be a growing trend of break-ins at the houses of sports people and celebrities.
“It is. It’s something we’ve been aware of for a long time and we’ve been trying to give support to the players in terms of trying to make sure that we’re as strong and resilient as we can, in terms of safety and procedures that the players need to put in place to protect themselves and their properties,” Howe said.
“It is a growing concern. I think there’s been a lot of work done to provide that support and make sure that we are looking at prevention and ways to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. Certainly, we’ll try to do everything we can to improve that side of things for the players.”
Callum Wilson may make his first appearance of the season against West Ham on Monday night, although Howe insists Newcastle will be cautious with the striker, given his string of injury problems, the latest of which have affected his back and his hamstring.
“He’s doing well,” Howe said of Wilson. “We anticipate he’s going to train with the group today. Whether he’s quite there for West Ham, let’s see. There’s a chance he’ll be involved but we have to get through the next few days of training first.
“The most important thing is that Callum does come back and when he does he’s in a good place to contribute given his importance. We’re at a delicate stage of his return. We have to manage the last parts carefully. Such a valuable player but we have to learn from previous spells.”
Kieran Trippier, meanwhile, is in line to return to the Newcastle squad for the first time since October 5 following his hamstring injury.
“Slightly closer I’d say,” Howe said. “He trained yesterday, trained well, felt good, no ill-effects, and looked sharp. We’re in the same situation in terms of managing the last few days of rehab carefully.”
Dan Burn will serve a one-match suspension for picking up five yellow cards, while Emil Krafth is set to miss six to eight weeks after breaking his collarbone.
“Just Emil Krafth had an operation,” Howe said. “We anticipate he’s going to be out for around six to eight weeks. That’s a big blow for us to lose him as such a consistent performer. Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles are continuing on their respective paths, but other than that, no new issues.”
(Top photo: Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images)
