William Osula is understood to be out for a few weeks - leaving Newcastle with a big decision to make
William Osula and Nick Woltemade of Newcastle United
William Osula and Nick Woltemade of Newcastle United
It will be interesting to see Matthias Jaissle's team sheet for the Carabao Cup tie against West Brom on Wednesday night at St James' Park.
With William Osula set to be out of action after fighting through the pain barrier against Liverpool, you would assume that suggests Nick Woltemade will get the chance of a morale-boosting performance against lower league opponents.
Osula could be out for at least a couple of weeks, causing the Magpies another major headache in attack, a real shame for the Danish youngster after a positive few weeks. But it remains to be seen if Woltemade is named on the bench tomorrow evening with one of Jaissle's preferences to field pacy forwards.
It means that, despite a new manager coming in, Woltemade's status in the team feels uncertain and whether he ever gets back to the centre-forward slot he was deemed fit to fill after a £69million fee is up for debate.
Woltemade was going great guns for Newcastle under Eddie Howe until Christmas last season, after a flying start saw him net nine goals as a centre-forward, even though he had questionable service. A header on his debut against Wolves and a clear wish to take penalties underlined he was not afraid to miss, but then Eddie Howe chose to do something that felt strange then, and strange now.
He moved the ex-Stuttgart man into a deeper role, and while he had mixed success, the ex-Bundesliga man always felt that a return to the frontline was on the cards. Even Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann went into bat for Woltemade and said he should be playing further up the pitch, only to barely use him at a World Cup that culminated in a cruel penalty miss against Paraguay.
Woltemade's pre-season reflected Newcastle's summer; it was complicated, first missing Howe's last two games due to his post-World Cup holiday, then coming in for Jaissle's first couple of matches but not playing at all against Liverpool - even when Osula hobbled off.
It has been suggested that Woltemade, who craves good service like the first round of games last season, does not want to leave Newcastle with links to Borussia Dortmund played down. But his involvement against the Baggies could be deemed critical in terms of whether Newcastle may be open to offers for the star.
I personally think he is worthy of a run in the team, but it all boils down to the views of the new backroom team and if they believe he can fit into that or not.
In fairness, if Woltemade doesn't start against West Brom, there is a case that he is being preserved to start at Spurs instead of injured Osula. However, if his game-time is limited against the Hawthorns outfit AND Spurs, you wonder where he stands ahead of deadline day.
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