The agent of Newcastle United striker Joelinton says the Brazilian always wanted to play in England.
Joelinton moved in the summer from Hoffenheim.
"It was Joelinton himself who said, 'I want to play in the Premier League and play for Newcastle and I want this challenge for my life,'" the player's agent, Christian Rapp, told ChronicleLive. "The two clubs managed to come to an agreement and Joelinton's part was quite easy because for him the most important thing was to jump to the island and he was thrilled by the huge tradition of Newcastle and we felt that this was the perfect place to start.
"We felt that Newcastle really, really wanted that player when we signed all the contracts and nothing has changed since. Nobody had the illusion it would be an easy journey there.
"If you start at Newcastle, you know every season will be challenging and the Premier League is the most competitive league in the world and three teams get relegated so it is tough and everybody knew that from the beginning and that was exactly the challenge that Joelinton wanted for himself and what we wanted him for him.
"He had opportunities in Germany as well to stay with the same team or move to another team and that for sure would have been a smoother ride for him because he knew the Bundesliga already. The Bundesliga is a very good league but you can't really compare it to the Premier League. There's a difference and he could have chosen that as well but as he did in other situations in his career, he ran towards the biggest step and the biggest challenge."
