Newcastle have handed over the club’s iconic jersey number nine to striker Callum Wilson ahead of the new season and remove it from the struggling Joelinton, who instead wears number seven.
Hughie Gallacher, Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Shearer have made Newcastle nine jerseys famous over the years and Wilson now hopes to do justice to it.
Joelinton had used it for two seasons after his club record of £ 40 million from Hoffenheim, but the Brazilian has only scored six Premier League goals during that time, despite playing regularly.
However, Wilson, with his usual number 13, made 12 Premier League appearances in 26 games last season. He got eight of them in his first 12 league games for the Magpies after a summer transfer from Bournemouth and would no doubt have gotten more if his form had not been disrupted by hoarding problems that effectively ended his season in February.
Newcastle’s jersey number nine has had a mixed history during the Premier League era. Aside from Shearer, Andrew Cole and Les Ferdinand both scored many goals in the 1990s.
Shearer got the jersey in 1996, which forced Ferdinand to take number 10 instead and went on to score a club record 206 goals during his decade at St James’ Park.
But after Shearer retired in 2006, Obafemi Martins struggled to make a lasting impact. Andy Carroll took over in 2010 after winning the championship promotion season and had brief success before being sold to Liverpool for £ 35 million just a few months later.
Alan Shearer is Newcastle’s most famous number nine in the Premier League era / Shaun Botterill / Getty Images
Papiss Cisse was another who had only a brief success and made 13 appearances in his first 14 Premier League appearances after arriving in mid-season in January 2012. The Senegal star could not maintain that form and had only added 24 to his league roster in further 103 games.
Dwight Gayle and Salomon Rondon also both carried nine in a season each before Joelinton.
For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!
