£69m signing from Stuttgart has slotted seamlessly into striker role at St James’ Park
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has praised striker Nick Woltemade for his impact since he arrived at the club in August.
The club signed the German from Stuttgart for £69m to fill an Alexander Isak-shaped hole in the squad. He has got off to a flying start, scoring five times in nine appearances so far.
“The challenge for him at this moment is that he’s got to do it every three or four days and that is not easy physically and mentally,” said Slot. “He has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders but he is carrying that really well.”
The Premier League is known to be physically demanding, but Howe said there had been a “vast improvement” in that area since the German’s arrival.
“I see a player and a person coming into the training ground that feels more at home in his environment, a lot more relaxed and you are seeing his natural personality come out,” Howe said. “I am very pleased with him.”
Woltemade’s predecessor Isak has not quite got off to the same brilliant start at Liverpool. In a slight dig at Newcastle, Liverpool manager Arne Slot said earlier this week that it was unfair to judge Isak so much, given that he didn’t “train or play in pre-season for a smaller club” before joining the Reds.
Asked about the Liverpool manager’s “smaller club” remark in reference to Newcastle, Howe said: “I don’t think that’s wise for me to get involved in those discussions. Alex is no longer at this football club, so I won’t comment on it.
“I think the setup here is very good. It’s not perfect. We’ve got things to improve and to grow, but the club and the owners here have developed the facilities since I’ve been here very, very well.
“You can see there’s building work going on currently to hopefully help us deliver even better in the future. But I’ve got no complaints. We’ve got elite athletes here, many of them.”
