NICK WOLTEMADE will not be available to make his Newcastle United debut against Leeds United tomorrow, but the Magpies could have both Fabian Schar and Sandro Tonali in their starting line-up at Elland Road.
Woltemade flew into the North-East last night after Newcastle agreed a £65m deal with Stuttgart for the German international.
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The striker is undergoing a medical this morning, with Magpies officials hoping that his transfer will be formally completed before the end of the day.
Woltemade’s arrival will finally see Newcastle make a breakthrough in an attacking search that has been ongoing for the whole of the summer, but even if a deal is finalised in the next few hours, the 23-year-old will not be featuring at Elland Road.
“I don’t think that (Woltemade playing against Leeds] is going to be possible, due to lots of reasons that I don’t understand,” said Howe. “I think the most important thing is that we try to bring a centre-forward in. That’s what we’ve been trying to work hard towards all summer. We’re getting closer.
“There are positive signs. Things are moving and developing in a positive way at the moment, but until things are done, we can’t confirm anything. Fingers crossed though.”
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While Howe feared Tonali and Joelinton had both suffered long-term injuries in Monday’s defeat to Liverpool, there has been positive news on both players in the last couple of days.
Tonali did not suffer a shoulder dislocation on Monday, and while the Italian remains in considerable pain, he is hoping to be available to play against Leeds.
Joelinton will not be involved at Elland Road after suffering a groin injury, but while the Brazilian has withdrawn from international duty, he should be back in action by the time the Magpies return to action after the break with a home game against Wolves.
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“It’s relatively good news on both players,” said Howe. “When they left the pitch, we feared they might be out long term because it didn’t look good for either.
“But Joelinton’s scan was relatively good. He will miss this weekend, but there’s a chance he could be available the other side of the international break.
“It’s similar with Sandro. His injury isn’t serious. He’s battling to try to be fit for tomorrow, although whether he makes it or not, I’m not sure. Again, though, it’s really positive signs because we did fear we were going to lose them for longer.
“There was no dislocation, thankfully, because that would have been a much longer-term injury. I’m probably better off not giving you the science behind it because I don’t know too much, but I think he’s just dealing with pain.
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“If he can deal with the pain, he can play. He’s still sore, and the movement in his arm is reduced currently, or at least it was yesterday, so we’ll see how he is today. He’s saying he wants to give it every chance to play, but we need him 100 per cent fit if he does.”
It was feared Schar has suffered a concussion when he left the field in the closing stages of Monday’s defeat, but the centre-half has been passed fit to play against Leeds and will resume his centre-half partnership with Dan Burn.
“Fabian is available,” said Howe. “We followed Premier League protocols regarding concussion with the doctor and he should be fit and fine to play.”
Anthony Gordon will serve the first game of a three-match ban, with Newcastle having opted not to appeal against the red card that was issued after he mistimed a challenge on Virgil van Dijk.