Shay Given and Ashley Williams have been praising Nick Woltemade’s first appearance for the club.
The German bagged his first goal in black and white, as the Mags won their first game of the season against Wolves on Saturday.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Given said: “A great start, (there was) big talk over the summer of who’s going to replace Isak and Woltemade is the man to do that hopefully.”
“People talk about is he a number 9 or is he a 10, I think he’s a bit of both. I’m excited to see him play in a Newcastle shirt, I really am,” he added.
A pinpoint Jacob Murphy cross set up Woltemade to fire his header past Wolves goalie Sam Johnstone. The type of header that is reminiscent of “Big Dunc” or “Shearer,” said Given.
“He brings a presence to the team. They paid a lot of money for him, but he’s still a very young player. I think with Eddie and his staff he can improve like they did with Isak.”
On the goal itself, the former United keeper said: “It’s not rocket science. You’ve got a 6 ft 6 striker in the box and he’ll score goals. As he says himself, it’s the perfect start on his debut.”
“Get the ball into the box – he will score goals” ⚽
Shay Given backs Nick Woltemade to be a success at Newcastle after the German striker scored a debut goal in their win against Wolves 💪 pic.twitter.com/aXUo0PQmhL
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) September 14, 2025
Former Swansea City captain Ashley Williams was also on the show, analysing Woltemade’s threat to defenders.
“As a centre back when you’ve got a striker that plays up against you all the time it keeps you switched on. But when you see him pulling off into those clever areas, you don’t want to go in there and then the next thing you’ve got to defend a big striker in the box, you’ve switched off a little bit and he’ll punish you,” he said.
“They’ve got speed in behind, so they’re a real threat now,” recognised Williams.
Woltemade spoke to the BBC after the game: “It felt amazing. Just all the fans, everybody was happy, I was happy. Of course, right now if you’ve won the game that’s more important also. I’m very happy about it.”
Eddie Howe was also delighted with how his new striker’s debut went, adding: “It was great to see Nick score on his debut. Very strong, I was very pleased with him.”
“Tactically he understood what we wanted. It was a shift for him, he had cramp at the end. He took his goal brilliantly,” he told the BBC.