Sport Recife Born in
Aliança, Pernambuco, Joelinton joined
Sport Recife in 2012 and spent two years playing in the youth team. He was promoted to the senior squad in 2013, but it was not until March 2014 that he made his professional debut, in a
Copa do Nordeste match against city rivals
Santa Cruz. He came on as a 62nd-minute substitute for
Neto Baiano in the 2–1 away semi-final win (4–1 aggregate). Sport won the cup with a 3–1 aggregate win over
Ceará in the final; Joelinton did not play. He was on the bench six times in the
Campeonato Pernambucano season, which they also won. In the
2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A season, Joelinton made seven appearances towards the end of the campaign. He scored his first career goal on 23 November in a 2–2 home draw with
Fluminense, and on the last day he scored the only goal against
São Paulo after four minutes. Joelinton established himself in the first team in the 2015 state league. However, he received two straight red cards in the second phase, against Santa Cruz and
Náutico.
TSG Hoffenheim In June 2015,
TSG Hoffenheim signed Joelinton on a five-year contract. He played only once in his first season in Germany, as a last-minute substitute for
Jonathan Schmid in a 1–0 loss at
Schalke 04 on 18 December.
Loan to Rapid Wien in 2017 On 23 June 2016, Joelinton was loaned to
Rapid Wien for two years. He made his debut on 8 July in the first round of the
Austrian Cup against
Regionalliga Ost club
FC Karabakh Wien, scoring the opening goal of a 3–1 victory. In the semi-finals on 26 April 2017, he scored an added-time winner at home to
LASK Linz as
Die Grün-Weißen reached the final for the first time in 12 years. He equalised in the final at the
Worthersee Stadion on 1 June, but
FC Red Bull Salzburg won 2–1. Joelinton played all ten of Rapid's
2016–17 UEFA Europa League matches, scoring in a 3–2 win over
Genk on 15 September and a 1–1 draw with
Athletic Bilbao at the
Allianz Stadion on 8 December. On the domestic front in the
Austrian Football Bundesliga, he recorded 8 goals in 33 games – including one to cap a 4–1 victory at
city rivals FK Austria Wien on 7 August – but the Viennese club finished 5th of 10 teams and missed out on European football. On 22 July 2017, the first game of the
new season, Joelinton was sent off after 23 minutes in a 2–2 home draw with
SV Mattersburg, for kicking back after being fouled by
Michael Novak.
Return On his return to Hoffenheim, Joelinton was given a first start in a
DFB-Pokal first-round match at
1. FC Kaiserslautern, and scored a
hat-trick in a 6–1 victory. He netted his first
Bundesliga goal on 22 September to open a 1–1 home draw with
Borussia Dortmund, and as a substitute on 23 October he scored an added-time equaliser for a 3–3 draw against
Lyon in a Champions League group game at the
Rhein-Neckar-Arena.
Newcastle United in 2021 On 23 July 2019, Joelinton joined
Newcastle United on a six-year deal for a reported club record fee of £40 million. He made his debut on 11 August, starting in their 1–0 home loss to
Arsenal; he and teammate
Miguel Almirón were criticised by the club's all-time record scorer
Alan Shearer for their performances. Joelinton scored his first Premier League goal on 25 August in a 1–0 victory away at
Tottenham Hotspur. It took him until 14 January 2020 to score his second goal for the club, netting the final goal in a 4–1
FA Cup third round replay victory over
Rochdale. He scored his first home league goal on 21 June in a 3–0 win over
Sheffield United, ending a 2,130-minute drought. Joelinton scored two goals in 38 appearances for the club, of which six came from the bench in the 2019–20 season. In the 2020–21 season he doubled his tally to four goals, which came from 31 appearances of which eight were from the bench. After
Eddie Howe took over as Newcastle United manager during the 2021–22 season, Joelinton was moved from a forward to a box-to-box
central midfielder, receiving praise from fans and pundits for his efforts and performances. He was awarded the Newcastle United Player of the Year Award for the
2021–22 season. On 11 April 2024, Joelinton signed a new long-term contract with Newcastle. On 17 March 2025, Joelinton started the 2–1 win in the
2025 EFL Cup final against Liverpool, his performance was described as "aggressive" and "intense". ==International career==