Nick Woltemade does not look like your average Premier League footballer.
He stands out not just for his size – at 6ft 6in he is the rangiest striker in the league – but also for his gait, which is more of a throwback to the languid movement of Chris Waddle than the rapier bursts of 2026’s Premier League athletes.
Some days – and an unstoppable first half against Chelsea three weeks ago was one of them – those runs, that ingenuity, make him something of a marvel. On others, such as Newcastle’s dire draw at Wolves, it makes him a target.
In a game of few chances, Woltemade was guilty of not forcing the issue with the one presentable opportunity that came his way. A screwed header looked bad on the highlights and feeds into the idea that Newcastle have made the mother of all cock-ups by spending £120m to restructure an attack ripped apart by Alexander Isak’s insubordination.
Woltemade is certainly going through a lean spell. Since that Chelsea game at St James’ Park he’s gone seven matches without scoring. Against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup he was brought on to save the game, got the ball in the box and dallied.
It looked bad and the groans from the home crowd felt laced with impatience at his reluctance to pull the trigger. It should set alarms bells ringing – Woltemade has fed off the positivity of supporters. Losing them would be disastrous.
And you know what? He is not to blame for Newcastle’s interminable inconsistency or the unnerving feeling that something isn’t quite right this season.
Woltemade’s surprising stats
With big-money moves come big expectations and if you boil it down, he’s done pretty well. Despite adapting to a new league and a coach with exacting demands Woltemade has seven goals in 19 Premier League games this season.
Of the big money buys, only Hugo Ekitike has more. Viktor Gyokeres has five – playing in a team that has created more – while Benjamin Sesko (the man whose snub saw Newcastle turn to Woltemade) has four.
He is overperforming his expected goals (scoring 0.43 to an expected 0.36 per game) and is creating 2.69 shot-creating actions per match. That puts him in the top quarter of strikers in the division.
For successful take-ons, touches and progressive passes he’s also well above average. His game isn’t the problem.
Newcastle’s big issue
The issue is where Newcastle are. Woltemade was signed, after much debate in the scouting team, because they saw not only room for development for the player but also for the team. Signing a hybrid between a number nine and number 10 might have been the thing that gave the Magpies another dimension.
To put it simply, that hasn’t happened. Without time in between games to hone a new game plan, the Magpies are relying on muscle memory. Newcastle’s progress on four fronts has brought with it a schedule that means Eddie Howe gets no time on the training ground with his players. Their Plan A is the one that relied on Isak and Woltemade isn’t that guy.
Striker transfer targets
Momentum is building for Howe to play Yoane Wissa and Woltemade together. It happened against Bournemouth in the FA Cup and was a qualified success. It probably warrants another look but if Howe isn’t sold, it doesn’t mean Woltemade needs to be.
That seems to be the way some see this story ending. With his age, profile and possible deployment as Germany’s number nine this summer, should Newcastle cut their losses and run? His numbers would ensure they didn’t make too much of a loss.
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Newcastle might need to make some big decisions soon regardless. Discussions have begun internally about bringing in another striker and it’s known they like Porto’s Samu Aghehowa, who was discussed in the summer.
Bournemouth expect interest in Justin Kluivert, who is the sort of menace Howe would love to work with. Bringing in another frontline striker might mean one has to go.
It feels like that would be a massive opportunity missed. Woltemade is different and if Molineux taught us anything, it’s that Newcastle under Howe need to be too.
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