Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United takes a drink during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James' Park on September 13, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)placeholder image
Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United takes a drink during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James' Park on September 13, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Nick Woltemade wasn’t the only Newcastle United star who really impressed Eddie Howe against Wolves.
Nick Woltemade stole the headlines as Newcastle United beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0. But there was another player who Eddie Howe waxed lyrical about.
Woltemade joined the Magpies for a club-record £69milllion from Stuttgart and marked his debut with a goal after heading home Jacob Murphy’s cross on the half-hour mark.
The 23-year-old has only had four training sessions with his new teammates but was thrown straight into the starting line-up with Newcastle’s other new striker, Yoane Wissa, unavailable due to a knee injury.
Eddie Howe delighted with Nick Woltemade’s NUFC debut
Speaking about Woltemade’s debut, Eddie Howe said: “You saw his qualities, his technical qualities that we've been discussing, his intelligence. But most importantly, for a striker, when the ball comes in the box, you need to be there. And he was today. It was a great finish.
“Really, really pleased for him personally, because that just settles him down and relaxes him. Very humble guy, wants to do well, he's delighted to be here. I think it's a great start.
“For me, that's a great football goal. It's a brilliant cross from Jacob Murphy. He did that time and again for us last season. And as I say, Nick's where he needs to be.
“You see a lot of centre-forwards who aren't in the box these days and I'm delighted that Nick is in there, because one of the challenges that he will face, because he's good technically and we want to use his technical skills, is that he finds himself out at goal-scoring areas. But he wasn't, and that's what he's paid to do.”
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Howe added: “We've had four training sessions with him and I think it's slightly different for him. I think just the way that we train is always slightly different with any manager but we've got our way of doing things.
“Every time you sign a new player, you start the journey again. You start the building blocks, getting the basics of how we play and then, through time, you expand that and find loads of different ways, hopefully, to tap into his strengths that we can bring out.
“So, very early stages, really, of just getting to understand the basic start positions. And, of course, off the ball is such a big thing for us. But I have to praise his game intelligence because he picks it up really quickly.”
But Nick Woltemade wasn’t the only quality performer...
But Woltemade wasn’t the only player in black and white that Howe was keen to highlight. The Newcastle boss heaped praise on midfielder Sandro Tonali for covering every blade of grass.
Howe said: “I think he covered every blade today. He was putting out a lot of fires on transitions for us. I think he's done that superbly well.
“Sometimes it's not necessarily a quality that registers immediately, but the number of times that he reads the game, reads where the ball's going to drop and he's there first, then you realise it's a massive skill of his. His athleticism, his speed.
“Defensively, I think he's one of the reasons why we've been so strong. But, of course, then the other side of his game, his use of the ball and his creativity, he nearly scored a great goal for us today so I thought it was a great performance.”
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