Nick Woltemade is scoring through the noise for Newcastle United.
The German international has been thrown in at the deep end because of Yoane Wissa’s injury and, thankfully for Newcastle United, he’s performing very well.
Indeed, Woltemade scored his third goal for the club as Newcastle beat USG 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
It was the club’s biggest ever win in the competition and their club-record signing was brilliant throughout.
Amid so much talk about his price tag, the 23-year-old continues to shine.
Bayern Munich launched another dig at Woltemade in the build-up to the USG game, with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge suggesting Newcastle were idiots to pay such a big fee for him.
That cannot be easy for a player to go through, particularly one who is already dealing with enough pressure as it is.
- Who is Nick Woltemade? The ‘two-metre Messi-Musiala’ Newcastle United broke transfer record to sign
Nick Woltemade responds to Bayern Munich on the pitch
Not only did the 23-year-old score for Newcastle on Wednesday night, he put in another fine performance.
Eddie Howe doesn’t think Woltemade has been unsettled by Bayern’s comments and that certainly looks to be the case.
Woltemade impressed his Newcastle teammates, dropping deep to link play as well as getting on the scoresheet.
Arguably his best performance in a Toon shirt yet, the former Stuttgart man is blocking out the noise.
There will be things to improve, there’s little doubt about that. Still, to already score three goals in a team that wasn’t fully functioning in an attacking sense until Wednesday night is a remarkable response.
Dealing with a big price tag cannot be easy but, on early evidence, Woltemade looks capable of handling that. They took a risk in the transfer market and have so far been vindicated.
Eddie Howe reveals what Nick Woltemade needs to work on at Newcastle
Newcastle insiders have been blown away by Woltemade, such has been the rapid-fire nature to which he’s adapted to life at the club.
It, however, is important not to get too carried away. This has been a promising start but to pretend Newcastle are yet at their best would be unwise.
There is more to come, and Howe was keen to point that out when speaking after the USG game.
The Newcastle United manager talked of the need to improve Woltemade’s fitness levels to really compete in the Premier League.
“There are things we want more of from him,” he said.
“The physicality of the Premier League will insist he does certain things, like covering big distances – you have to do that to be effective. It’s relentless and you’ve got to be able to maintain that intensity for long periods. We’ll be doing a lot of physical work with him to get him robust enough.”
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
