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Former Newcastle United star Chris Waddle has said he feels ‘sorry’ for Nick Woltemade and believes the forward could return to Germany in the summer.

Woltemade has scored 10 goals for United since arriving from Stuttgart for £65 million but has struggled to find any consistency for the Magpies. The 24-year-old has been deployed in midfield as of late with both him and fellow summer signing Yoanne Wissa unable to make the striker role their own and Waddle has questioned Newcastle’s recruitment.

“Nick Woltemade? I feel sorry for the lad a bit. I had to move out to France and it doesn’t just happen overnight. He should be settled in now though. It took me three months to get myself together, for him the jury’s still out with the fans,” Waddle told Ozoon.

“A lot of Geordie fans I speak to are not keen on him or Yoanne Wissa, by the way. They think they were both panic buys. I don’t know if Wissa was ever intended to be the number nine. “I think if Alexander Isak was here he would have probably played on the right side. They’re playing Anthony Gordon down the middle at the minute. The problem is if he starts thinking he’s a centre forward he becomes a bad player.

“When you’re a winger, I played up front when I went from the wing, and you’d automatically run down the channels a bit because you want to get the ball in an area which you’re used to, which are the flanks, and you cause a lot of problems. But when you start thinking you’re a centre forward it becomes a problem because you stop making those runs.

“Anthony Gordon’s banging them in when he plays down the middle and I can see Eddie Howe thinking, ‘I’ve got two centre forwards which would cost us an absolute fortune sat on the bench, basically.’ they’ve not hit the ground running.

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“I know Wissa had an injury, but looking at the body language and looking at how they play, they just don’t look like Newcastle type of players. A few goals can turn your confidence and turn everything around, I know that. But at the minute, for those two guys, I find it very, very hard. “I think the fans are thinking, this is not the answer for replacing Isak. There's talk of Woltemade going back to Germany. I think if they got the price right, I think it could be a deal on there.

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“Anthony Elanga’s not hit the ground running either. The signings they’ve made have been disappointing, let’s be honest. It’s the players who have been there for the last year, two, three years, who have done things for the club, who are making the team tick. “So they need to hit the ground running because at the minute they cost a lot of money, these players, and you’ve got to say the jury’s still out.”

Both Woltemade and Wissa started on the bench for Newcastle’s 1-1 draw with Barcelona on Tuesday with Anthony Gordon expected to lead the line when Newcastle travel to Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.

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