Newcastle's Nick Woltemade
This summer, Newcastle United changed gears as they screeched to a halt before a cliff-edge.
Eddie Howe's decision to call time on his tenure may well have been the right one. He had led the Magpies as far as he could manage, and Matthias Jaissle now fronts a new project, with so many sweeping changes changing the make-up of this team.
REUTERS/Scott Heppell
Most departures proved bitter pills to swallow, but not all were forced. Nick Woltemade joined the club from Stuttgart in a record £69m deal in 2025, but he has already been shipped out on loan - and that may be the end of his Premier League career with the Toon.
Why Newcastle are done with Nick Woltemade
Woltemade might not have a purchase clause inserted into his loan contract with Juventus, but it doesn't feel likely that he will resurrect his career with Newcastle. Instead, expect him to explore a permanent move away from Tyneside next summer.
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Newcastle - Top Premier League Scorers (25/25)
Player
Bruno Guimaraes
Nick Woltemade
William Osula
Harvey Barnes
Anthony Gordon
Frustratingly, he only took 32 shots throughout the campaign. Sure, he hit the target 13 times and boasted a conversion rate to rival the sharpest shooters in the division, but it appears that he cherry-picked his moments, playing without the desperate hunger that characterises the best of the best up front.
To sum it up: Woltemade ranked eighth in the Premier League for shots on target per 90 (0.4) - and that's only at Newcastle.
He might have been a unique and dynamic player, but it was hardly enough, and emphasises the thought process behind moving him on and signing Matias Fernandez-Pardo from LOSC Lille for £51m: a faster forward, more ferocious, hungry for goals.
Sometimes, a decision like this needs to be made, parting with a big-money signing who hasn't lived up to the billing. Now, Jaissle may need to repeat that same process.
Newcastle must sell the new Woltemade
For Woltemade to have been shown the door with such immediacy proved a decision which split a few opinions, but the fact that Howe and now Jaissle have both struggled to get the right tune out of the German in the Premier League says a lot.
Sadly, the same could be true for Jacob Ramsey. He's never quite settled in at St. James' Park, and though he is a useful squad option, it's becoming clear that he will have to look for a new challenge if he is to rekindle his once-promising career.
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This might come across as harsh, but there is certainly no vendetta against the former Aston Villa man. In fact, many Magpies supporters hold Ramsey in relatively high regard.
However, he has struggled to click in Howe and now Jaissle's system, and it's unlikely that he will nail down a starting berth with the kind of regularity that would be expected after £43m was forked out for his signature. In this, we see a similarity between the Englishman and Woltemade's situations on Tyneside.
It was a deal threaded with Aston Villa to keep PSR punishment at bay. Ramsey struggled to establish himself last year, and now, already, he has found himself near the bottom of the midfield pecking order. The 25-year-old has played three times in the Premier League this year, each time as a substitute, averaging 23 minutes per match.
Last season, Ramsey featured semi-regularly, but not with enough conviction. Across 28 Premier League appearances, he started 15 times, scoring twice, assisting three goals and winning 55% of his duels.
All good enough, but he recorded 0.1 shots on target per game, created only two big chances and completed only seven full 90s - two of which came right at the end of the season. On the ball, it would be fair to say he was too conservative.
The player once cherished by Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa is not there any more. Not in the way he once was. There was once such excitement around Ramsey, who looked a bona fide starboy at Villa Park. Injuries and struggles for consistency have pulled him away from that territory, and Newcastle may not be the best place for him to start regularly in the bid to rediscover that path.
Aston Villa's Jacob Ramsey
Ramsey is not a bad player, and he could conceivably leave for a Premier League rival and end up playing an important part. Like Woltemade, his big-money move hasn't worked out, and an upgrade will be needed to match Jaissle's lofty ambitions.
Newcastle are aiming for the stars, and they need stronger options in midfield. A variety of new, young signings are bedding in. Perhaps PIF have already signed the perfect replacement.
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