Newcastle United already have 2027 striker decision to make after agreeing to move
Newcastle United forward Nick Woltemade is joining Italian giants Juventus on a season-long loan deal.
Sometimes things just don’t work out, no matter how much you want them to. That’s life and, ultimately, that’s the story of Nick Woltemade at Newcastle United.
Nearly 12 months after Woltemade joined Newcastle for a club-record £69million from Stuttgart, the 6ft 7in German is off to another team in black and white, Italian giants Juventus.
Woltemade has departed on a season-long loan with no obligation or option to buy, becoming the fourth major exit of the summer after Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes. But unlike those departures, Woltemade leaves with the whole Tyneside public behind him.
And that’s not because he’s still technically a Newcastle player and could be back here next summer, but because they genuinely want him to succeed.
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A panic buy that worked initially - before reality hit
Going back to the beginning and there is no point pretending otherwise, Woltemade was a panic buy. After losing Alexander Isak and missing out on countless targets, Newcastle needed a striker and Woltemade, fresh from impressing for Stuttgart and at the under-21s European Championship, was available.
At first, his signing seemed inspired. Towering headers, flicked finishes and a (very) precise penalty formed quite a brilliant highlights reel. But once the goals dried up, reality hit. It is a transfer that has never really made sense, but that's largely the club's fault - not the player.
Woltemade’s profile is the antithesis of a typical Eddie Howe - and now Matthias Jaissle - striker, so much so that Howe moved him to midfield in an attempt to get the best out of him. Howe failed and is no longer in his post, but no one has suffered more than the player himself.
The 24-year-old’s stock was relatively high when he first arrived. He was Germany’s number nine heading into the World Cup but his club struggles followed him to North America, and one of his few kicks of a football at the tournament was to miss his penalty in the last 32 exit to Paraguay.
Confidence drain and falling down the pecking order
It wasn’t meant to be this way, not so soon after his big-money move anyway, but few can argue that Woltemade leaving isn’t the right decision.
Woltemade has proven to be a technically gifted footballer, but it's always been pretty evident that he lacks the pace and physicality the Premier League typically demands. It is also that Woltemade has had the confidence drained from him, and needs an opportunity to rebuild it.
He was initially keen to stay at St James’ Park and fight for his place, but the £51million arrival of Matias Fernandez-Pardo from Lille pushed him further down the pecking order, having already sat behind the likes of Will Osula, Yoane Wissa, Joe Willock and possibly Joelinton when he returns from injury.
Woltemade’s market value has already decreased and will have dropped further if he were to spend the campaign on the bench. By joining Juventus, he has the chance to make a mark at one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
The move makes sense for both parties. And who knows, if he does make a success of it, then his Newcastle career might not be over yet. It, at the very least, creates a different conversation next summer.