Ask any Newcastle United supporter to identify a player synonymous with the penny-pinching reign of Mike Ashley and there's a good chance you'll hear "Joselu" as the reply.
Fresh off winning the Championship and promotion, secure in the services of beloved manager Rafael Benítez and dreaming of a splashy return to the 2017-18 top flight, Toon supporters were left frustrated by a summer transfer window in which Joselu's $6 million purchase represented the biggest upgrade to the attack.
The Spanish target man had just recently been in the Premier League for one failed season with Stoke City, scoring four in 22 before getting sent back to Spain by Mark Hughes.
At Newcastle, with Benítez prioritizing defensive stability and Joselu often cutting an isolated figure, it went even worse. The Celta Vigo product clearly had the tools at 6 feet 4 inches and with great technical ability, but Joselu's finishing ability deserted him over two seasons at St James' Park.
He never lost the support of the crowd. He'd arrived in the summer after the sudden death of his father in June followed by the birth of his first child with Melanie Cañizares in August. The 27-year-old was hugely committed and a popular character, but he turned into a meme after scoring just six goals in 46 PL games.
Joselu's Newcastle tenure ended on a streak of 13 league games without scoring, and the club sold him to Alavés at a $3 million loss. Back in Spain after largely being abroad for the last seven years, something remarkable happened to Joselu.
The striker joined another relegation-threatened club in Alavés, but Joselu scored 11 in 2019-20, managed the same total in 2020-21 and then almost single-handedly kept the club up last campaign with 14 goals in 37 games.
Joselu was then a free agent this summer, and it was Espanyol that signed the 32-year-old hoping that he could again reach double figures over the course of the season. Well, we're only 17 matches into LaLiga and Joselu has already reached 10.
On Sunday, Espanyol traveled to Getafe and Joselu opened the scoring in the sixth-minute with a golazo.
Look at this equalizer from Getafe's Enes Ünal.
ENEEEESSSSSSS ÜNALLLLLLL!!!!!! #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/6qddTuTSiv
— S Sport (@ssporttr) January 15, 2023
Espanyol's Javi Puado is a baller as well.
️Espanyol yeniden öne geçiyor 2-1! Javier Puado. #LaLiga
— S Sport (@ssporttr) January 15, 2023
But that's 17 games, 10 goals and one assist for Joselu. Only Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski has scored more (13) in LaLiga. It's also worth mentioning that Espanyol is through to the Round of 16 in the Copa del Rey with Joselu scoring one and creating two in that competition.
The 32-year-old has never represented Spain at the senior level, but new manager Luis de la Fuente's last job before he started working with the national team was with Alavés so he's probably been watching closely.
It's got to be better than Marco Asensio as a false 9.
