Nick Woltemade of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Aston Villa and Newcastle United on February 14, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)placeholder image
Nick Woltemade of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Aston Villa and Newcastle United on February 14, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Nick Woltemade has started Newcastle United’s last two games as a midfielder.
Widely regarded as one of the Magpies’ most creative players, the Brazilian will be sidelined until April with a hamstring issue. But Eddie Howe may have found a solution - £69million club-record signing Nick Woltemade.
Signed as a striker, now playing as a midfielder, it’s no Joelinton story, but there can be parallels, especially if Howe persists with Woltemade in that position.
Howe first deployed Woltemade on the left side of the midfield three against Aston Villa in the FA Cup last Saturday, and it was a surprise move that paid off as the German ended his 14-game goal drought in a 3-1 win.
It was the encouragement Howe needed to stick with it against Qarabag on Wednesday night as Woltemade played his part in a 6-1 Champions League win.
Eddie Howe on playing Nick Woltemade in midfield
“We've done a lot of work with him in that position away from the game day as much as we can with the limited training time that we have,” Howe explained.
“So yes, when I say we're not training, we're not training to the intense levels of course that we would one game a week but we are turning up as we will today and we will train but then it's what you do in that time that's the really important thing.
“Nick's attitude to his work has been excellent, so we've asked him to play a slightly different role, albeit it's not a million miles from how we were playing with him as the number nine. He was coming low, he was coming deep but it's just he's slightly to one side so I don't see a big massive issue here.
“He's a player that plays better in between the lines than stretching the line, I think that's obvious. It's more the defensive work that he has to then grasp and what we ask of him off the ball and that's where I have to say, even as a number nine leading the line, his off the ball performances were really, really good.
“Tactically he's a very, very intelligent player, he's obviously been well educated at his former clubs, so he took to it really quickly and full compliment to him for doing that.
“The thing with Nick and we noticed this straight away from working with him, he's got really good endurance level so his ability to run and cover long distances is actually very, very high. So yeah, I think he can do it.
“Of course there's things to learn and improve and develop within his game in that position but I think he's a versatile player.”
Eddie Howe drops Nick Woltemade hit ahead of Man City clash
Newcastle dominated possession against 10-man Aston Villa and Qarabag in midweek but that is unlikely to be the case when they face Manchester City this evening.
Like the rest of the team, Woltemade is expected to be tested a lot more defensively, so the question is, can he handle it? Howe was asked that question and in his response appeared to hint that the 24-year-old would start.
Howe said: “We will see, but I'd say from what I've seen in training and the way that he's taken to the work that we've done with him, I'd say yes.
“Of course, doing that in one environment is different to doing it on match day with the pressure and the game and everything that entails but I wouldn't play him there if I didn't think he could do it.”
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