Last season, Nick Woltemade found himself at the centre of a proxy battle between sections of Newcastle’s online support and head coach Eddie Howe.
The prevailing argument was that the German was being used incorrectly by Howe. Those who believed the issue was more fundamental — that Woltemade was simply ill-suited to the Premier League and Newcastle — were quickly drawn into the dispute.
Now, just 12 months after joining Newcastle from Stuttgart, the club’s record £69million signing is set to move to Juventus on a season-long loan. The Italian club will pay £3.5million, with neither an obligation nor an option to buy — a scenario that would have seemed almost impossible when he first arrived at St James’ Park.
Woltemade could hardly have made a better opening impression. He scored the winner on his debut and converted each of his first six shots on target. Was that remarkable efficiency or a run that could not last? The latter suspicion ultimately proved correct.
As Daily Mail Sport observed at the time, Woltemade appeared to be the missing piece for somebody else’s puzzle. He was gifted and charismatic, but lacked the attributes required to survive and excel in the Premier League.
A club source offered an even sharper assessment this week: ‘He was just caught in the wrong movie.’
Nick Woltemade made an ideal start to his Newcastle career by scoring against Wolves on his debut, but that early promise proved to be a false dawn
Woltemade is a talented player with considerable charisma, but he lacked the tools to flourish in the Premier League
There is no animosity towards Woltemade within the club, among his team-mates, supporters or outside observers. One insider calls him a ‘diamond of a guy’. Howe particularly enjoyed his sense of humour, including the way Woltemade kept him entertained during a journey through Marseille rush-hour traffic before a Champions League press conference in November.
Even so, Newcastle’s hierarchy had long accepted that the deal was a panicked purchase completed for an inflated fee. That assessment became harder to ignore during the 25 matches following his early scoring run, when he managed only three goals.
His defenders had a reasonable point: Newcastle were not consistently creating the conditions in which he could succeed. He was surrounded by wingers who were struggling for form and became isolated as a lone centre-forward in a side lacking a No 10.
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There was internal sympathy for his situation, but it gradually diminished. As the weeks turned into months, some at the club felt Woltemade was not doing enough to change his own fortunes, either in training or during matches. There was also a belief that he had absorbed the criticism around him and begun to accept the idea that tactical shortcomings were solely to blame.
The lowest point arrived at Manchester City in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final in early February. After 20 minutes, coach Graeme Jones shouted at Woltemade to push higher up the pitch. Moments earlier, with City’s high defensive line offering space to attack, the striker had dropped towards the ball on the halfway line in front of their centre-backs.
Woltemade had neither the pace nor the inclination to run in behind — because that is not the type of player he is. Yet that passage appeared to confirm that his future as a Premier League striker had run its course. He was substituted at half-time after recording just 11 touches and no attempts on goal.
Ten days later, Howe tried him in midfield during an FA Cup tie at Aston Villa, where he scored in a 3-1 victory. For a short time, it seemed a solution might have emerged. The experiment quickly stalled, however. Woltemade lacked the intensity, running power and aggression required for the role, and his display in the 3-2 home defeat by Everton in late February — when he was removed 10 minutes into the second half — effectively ended the experiment.
As respected Newcastle supporters’ site nufc.com put it: ‘Unless he’s in the opposition box, he’s no threat to them and no use to us.’
Eddie Howe tried Woltemade in midfield, but the German lacked the intensity, stamina and aggression demanded by the position
One of the most damaging moments of his disappointing first season came when he scored a decisive own goal in the Tyne-Wear derby
It was significant that Woltemade remained an unused substitute for both legs of Newcastle’s Champions League last-16 defeat by Barcelona. He was then handed a surprise start as a No 10 in the 2-1 derby loss to Sunderland at St James’ Park. His 65-minute display echoed his earlier performances in other positions: he was passive, offered little penetration and even appeared to be losing control of the ball. That may have reflected confidence that had already disappeared.
Following a summer at the World Cup and the appointment of fellow German Matthias Jaissle as Newcastle manager, optimism around Woltemade briefly returned. It soon faded. From the opening pre-season friendly, it was apparent that he fitted Jaissle’s preferred style even less than he had Howe’s.
By now, even his staunchest backers had lowered their arms. There was no fight left in them and, seemingly, precious little in Woltemade. There remains a very good footballer in there. But, for Newcastle, his best position was always likely to be this – somewhere else.