Tottenham vs Newcastle: What happened to Nick Woltimade?

It’s also easy to forget that Woltemade is still only 23 years old.

He only became a regular at Stuttgart in December 2024, before joining Newcastle a few months later after the club missed out on Hugo Equitiki, Joao Pedro and Benjamin Cisco, among others.

Having never played outside his homeland before, he had to quickly adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League, as well as a pre-designed system of a speedy striker leading the defensive pressure from the front and running from the back, which is not Waltiamad’s game.

The Bundesliga is a ferocious league in its own right, but interestingly Woltemade has only picked up four fouls in his last 11 Premier League matches.

Premier League analysts and defenders now have a greater body of work to study in order to try and limit his impact on Newcastle’s side than they did earlier in the season.

There were times when Woltemade wasn’t in the box – lacking that instinct of a traditional poacher – and on other occasions he looked isolated in attack and didn’t have enough runners close to him, which was down to the way Newcastle were set up.

It’s no wonder then that Woltemade is averaging just 1.9 shots per game in the league this season.

Woltemade failed to even hit the target with two headers from his most recent opportunity in front of goal, against Wolves last month, but it is clear that serving has also been an issue for a player who thrives from balls to feet.

Although Newcastle top the Premier League cross passing chart (637), only eight top-flight teams have worse cross accuracy (21.5%).

Also, instead of being a traditional player who plays with his back to goal, the technical player Woltemade looks more comfortable playing in the spaces between the midfield and the penalty area.

From these areas he often displayed a unique ability in Stuttgart – for someone so tall he dribbled past defenders and connected with those around him.

Howe brought on Woltemade in such a role behind Wessa in a 4-2-3-1 against Bournemouth last month and he revisited the experience as Newcastle attempted to get back into the game in the second half against Brentford at the weekend.

But the head coach readily admitted that his attack is “not fully operational yet” as he tries to fit his summer signings “into the squad’s shape”.

“Nick did everything with such a great attitude,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing for me, and that means he’s going to continue to be successful.”