· 9 September 2025, 18:30
**Newcastle United made a late move in the summer transfer window to bring in German international striker Nick Woltemade from Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart for a club record fee.**
His move went through too late for him to be available for Eddie Howe to select when the Magpies took on Leeds United, so Newcastle fans' first opportunity to watch their new striker in action was on the international stage, with Woltemade being selected to lead the line for Germany in their World Cup qualifying games.
Germany were pretty poor in their first game against Slovakia. Woltemade took a fair bit of criticism in that game, but it was a poor performance from the entire team.
In the game against Northern Ireland, Nick Woltemade provided an assist for Serge Gnabry to open up the scoring in their 3-1 win, but our new striker faded as the game went on, being subbed off on the hour mark with some boos ringing out from the stands.
Nick Woltemade was lethal for Germany U21s this summer
BILD claim Nick Woltemade isn't used to playing up front as a lone striker
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While it hardly filled the Toon Army with confidence, German outlet [BILD](https://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/nick-woltemade-bei-nagelsmann-darum-zuendete-er-nicht-68be864346b61b4dcb0bd6ca) has moved to make excuses for why Woltemade was likely misfiring for the National side.
They point out that Woltemade played as a second striker for Stuttgart, and he's not used to leading the line on his own.
His instincts and style of play are better suited to a supporting role and having someone to play off rather than being a forward who is in the box sniffing for scraps to feed off.
Is Eddie Howe moving to a two-striker formation?
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We wonder if this is something Eddie Howe has deliberately done, and that the plan is to play the 6'6" German up front behind Yoane Wissa, who is more of a poacher.
The big question is who would Eddie Howe sacrifice in order to play with two up top? The midfield is way too strong to separate, the Anthonys are too dangerous to leave out, and going three at the back would leave Nick Pope far too exposed.
We expect that Woltemade will be given time to settle before he's tasked with being Newcastle's main striker, and by then, he's likely to have trained more to be that lone striker that Germany, and Newcastle need him to be.