Nick Woltemade is hoping to make his Newcastle United debut against Wolves on Saturday, as he gets set for a tough start to his Toon career.
That is the view of former Magpies striker Les Ferdinand, who is excited to see whether Newcastle’s most expensive signing ever can truly replace Alexander Isak on Tyneside.
The 23-year-old has been at the Newcastle United training ground this week, working alongside Eddie Howe for the first time since his £69million transfer.
While there is excitement surrounding his arrival, Newcastle are going to be patient with Woltemade.
That will be music to the ears of Ferdinand, who is concerned that it could take the Germany international a bit of time to adapt to the Premier League and fill Isak’s boots.
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Les Ferdinand is worried about Nick Woltemade adapting to the Premier League
Ahead of Newcastle United’s game against Wolves on Saturday afternoon, former Toon striker Ferdinand has spoken to Sky Sports News.
The Newcastle United legend has given his thoughts on Woltemade, admitting there are no guarantees that he will hit the ground running at St James’ Park.
“He’s untried in the Premier League,” he said.
“It’s going to be a tough test for him. It was important that they brought Wissa in as that will take a bit of the pressure off of Woltemade.
“It remains to be seen. Players sometimes come into the Premier League and it takes a while for them to get used to it.
“He’s not what I would call a traditional type of centre-forward who plays through the middle. He likes to come off the wing a little bit. I suppose the modern centre-forward nowadays wants to come off the left and use their right foot and score goals coming in from the side. That is what he has more traditionally done where he has been.
“It will be interesting to see how he fits in to the Premier League. Tough ask to fill Isak’s boots, but given time hopefully he can settle and do the job Newcastle fans would like him to do.”
What happened on Les Ferdinand’s Newcastle United debut
If Woltemade can replicate Ferdinand’s start for Newcastle United then he will be well on his way to ensuring Toon fans can forget about Alexander Isak.
Ferdinand signed for the Magpies in 1995, arriving from QPR for £6million.
It did not take him long to settle in, scoring on his debut in a 3-0 win over Coventry City.
Sir Les was immediately flying for Kevin Keegan’s side, finding the net 13 times in his first 10 league games. He was absolutely on fire, going on to score 29 goals in all competitions in his first season.
It would be absolutely remarkable if Woltemade could replicate that, but it feels unlikely. He has already missed a few games, while he has the added challenge of adapting to Premier League football.
In contrast, Ferdinand knew the top flight of English football like the back of his hand by the time he arrived at St James’ Park.
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