Joelinton to undergo surgery this week which will keep him out until at least April - journalist

Joelinton is about to cement his place on Newcastle United's injury list by undergoing surgery this week.

According to Florian Plettenberg, Joelinton will undergo groin surgery in Barcelona tomorrow which is expected to keep him out of action until April.

That's slightly better news than what we were expecting given that we weren't expecting to see him again this season - or indeed ever given the unresolved contract issue.

The contract news is not so good

Mind, if this season is anything to go by, Eddie Howe will have him playing against Aston Villa next week.

Plettenberg touches on the contract situation in his update on X too, and that's definitely not good news.

Joelinton and Newcastle can't agree terms on a new deal and if something doesn't change before the end of the season, the club might look to cash in on the 27-year-old before he can leave on a free in 2025.

Let's see how things play out between now and the summer

This would be a huge blow for Newcastle fans with Joelinton being a big favourite amongst the Toon Army.

However, no player is bigger than the club and if a player isn't happy then it's always best to move them on before they start affecting morale - if you've ever played Football Manager you know we're right.

We hope that the two parties can come to an agreement as we are all big Joelinton fans at nufc.news towers, but let's just navigate the surgery and recovery bit first.