Despite a challenging second half, Woltemade's early brilliance and creative spark hint at a Premier League breakout next season.
A season which started so well for Nick Woltemade, seeing him net four times in his opening five league games, also setting a record to become the first Newcastle United player in nearly 30 years to score in their first three home league games. Woltemade netted on his debut against Wolves; in his first 11 games, he scored four goals and made three assists.
The goals may have dried up in the second part of the season for Woltemade; he has scored ten goals and made five assists in 48 games, of which nine games saw him play in centre midfield when injuries to midfielders left Newcastle light in midfield.
To put his performances into context, his 15 goal contributions work out at £4.3 million per goal contribution based on his £65 million transfer fee. If we look at the player he replaced, Alexander Isak has scored four goals and made one assist in 21 games, making his goal contributions work out at £25 million per goal contribution based on his £125 million transfer fee.
Nick Woltemade is not a traditional big centre forward; he is able to control the ball with his feet, create passes and help build attacks. He can score goals but as seen this season at Newcastle many of his teammates have not helped him due to the lack of service into the box for him.
Former German International Jens Lehmann told Talksport that Woltemade has exceeded his expectations: “He over-exceeded my actual expectations at the beginning of the season. Because normally when you come to the Premier League from a league where the football is a little bit slower, then you need to take time to adjust. It normally takes three, four or five months. So he did really well at the beginning. He probably has to recover from that a little bit because he's still a young guy. And we don't know his physical details.”
Fans have been crying out for the return of Woltemade to the starting lineup, and given how many changes Eddie Howe made against Arsenal, they were actually surprised he wasn't given a chance. After coming on in the second half and creating a lovely assist for Wissa to just fire it into the net but ended up skying it. Eddie Howe said after his performance against Arsenal: "Nick's creativity for Yoane's chance, that's what he can do. He's a very special talent in that respect. If Nick plays like he did today, he’ll get loads more minutes and opportunities to impress. I was very pleased with him."
A pre-season under his belt after what Woltemade will hope is a successful World Cup for him and his national team mates, is something that most Newcastle fans are confident will be the turning point which will see Woltemade take the Premier League by storm and become a vital part of the starting XI for Newcastle.