Steve Bruce says Newcastle have a £40m player who’s a bit like Kai Havertz now

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Steve Bruce has now compared Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton to Arsenal’s Kai Havertz given his recent positional change.

Bruce was speaking on BBC 5 Live Sport on Wednesday and mentioned Havertz’s name when analysing Joelinton’s skill set at Newcastle.

The former Newcastle manager was discussing Joelinton’s profile as a striker when he first joined the club, and his belief that he wasn’t a natural goal scorer.

Harping back to the Brazilian signing, Bruce said: “The one thing I did question Lee Charnley about at the time was, ‘Lee when you look at his goalscoring record as a number nine, his record isn’t great’.

“Now, we can go on the stats and no disrespect, it’s the one thing I look for in a centre forward – a centre forward who just wants to score a goal is vital.

“What you see is with the really good ones, the really good ones are only interested in scoring a goal, otherwise they are not happy.

“Joelinton was never like that. I had a really difficult conversation with him after a year and a half to say ‘look Jo I think we are going to play you in a different position.’”

Bruce now thinks Joelinton has similarities to Havertz at Newcastle

Steve Bruce then continued to describe Joelinton’s transition to becoming a midfielder.

He said: “I then played him where he played at Hoffenheim on the left. But to be fair I never saw him as one of the midfield three like Eddie plays him now.

“But we bought Callum Wilson to play through the middle and all Callum is interested in is scoring, if you look at his stats, they are good.

“That’s why I say all the time that forward players, especially players who score a goal, are the most important.

“Joelinton is a typical one like Havertz who can play in a number of positions but I don’t think he’s a natural goalscorer in terms of a number nine.”

Of course, this comparison is particularly interesting given the recent tie between Arsenal and Newcastle.

Joelinton did a brilliant job of stifling Havertz on his visit to Newcastle, something Bruce must have noticed.

And Newcastle fans must now be very grateful that their £40m signing, first envisioned as a striker, is now thriving in midfield.

Another Newcastle player who had his doubters when he first arrived was Anthony Gordon.

The former Everton player divided fans given his hefty price tag.

However, the winger is now thriving at St. James’ Park and could now be considered one of Eddie Howe’s key players.

Danny Murphy has recently been praising Gordon’s work rate as the best in Europe following the win after Arsenal.

And given the improvements both Gordon and Joelinton have made, Eddie Howe deserves a ton of credit.